Journeys & Surprises
by A New Side Of Awesome
Summary: Everything seems to be going great in Austin and Ally's lives. They're two best friends, trying to make it big in the music business together. However, things take a turn for the unexpected when Ally finds herself facing a pregnancy after a drunken mistake. Austin/Ally. Please review.
1. Chapter 1

**Summary: Everything seems to be going great in Austin and Ally's lives. They're two best friends, trying to make it big in the music business together. However, things take a turn for the unexpected when Ally finds herself facing a pregnancy after a drunken mistake. Austin/Ally.**

**Rating: T for some language and sexual content (non-explicit)**

*****Read, Enjoy, Review*****

* * *

Ally Dawson sat slumped against the bathroom wall, staring down in disbelief at the white piece of plastic that rested in her hands. She could feel her heart pounding in her ears, and her forehead was damp with a cold sweat as her eyes scanned the tiny pink plus sign, over and over again.

_How did this happen? _she wondered. She squeezed her eyes shut, a certain flashback coming to mind.

_It all started about two months ago after Austin performed as opening act for a famous band playing in Miami. Being that his parents were out of town, Austin decided that he would throw a big bash to celebrate how successful he was becoming as a singer, and Ally as a songwriter. This party involved everything any unsupervised party should - including loud music, dancing...and large amounts of alcohol. _

_Of course Austin was eager to get hammered that night. After all, he was always looking to have a good time. Ally - on the other hand - never even had a single sip of alcohol before that night. She hadn't planned to start either, but somehow, Austin talked her into going against her better judgement. _

_One shot lead to another, and for the first time ever, Ally Dawson was drunk._

_The next morning she woke up with the feeling as if a hammer was taken to her head. She scanned over her surroundings, and it hadn't taken her long to realize she wasn't in her own bed. _

_And that she wasn't wearing any clothes._

_Her eyebrows arched in confusion and suddenly she heard a loud yawn coming from next to her. A strong arm stretched over and wrapped itself around her petite form, pulling her closer. She felt the mysterious form snuggling its face into her hair, and hot breath tickled her neck. Her eyes automatically widdened, and she rolled over to look at the sleeping face of none other than her best friend and musical partner - Austin Moon. _

_"Austin!" she screamed, immediately sitting up and shielding her body with his bed sheets. He yawned big and sat up, scratching the back of his neck. His eyes fluttered open to meet the ones of his horrified songwriter. _

_"Ally!" he screched, his facial expression suddenly mirroring hers. "What are you doing in my bed?"_

_"I-I don't know! Did we...?"_

_They both looked under the covers at the same time to realize neither of them were wearing any clothes. And that's when it hit her._

_"We-we-we had s-s-s..." she couldn't seem to get the word out._

_"Sex," he finished casually. _

_"This isn't happening, this isn't happening, this isn't happening..." she tryed to convince herself as she got up from the bed, trying to keep the blanket wrapped around her form while she picked up every article of her clothing that she could find._

_"Ally-" _

_"I-I'm sorry Austin. Th-this was a mistake. A horrible, horrible mistake."_

_"Als-" the guilt in his voice was clear._

_"Ya know what? How about we pretend like this never happened? Yeah. Let's erase this whole night from our lives and stay the way we were before...nothing needs to change. I'll see you later at Sonic Boom, Austin."_

_"But Ally-" _

_And she was gone before he could even get the chance to speak. _

They'd done exactly what she'd suggested too - acted like the whole thing was just some wild dream. Nothing ever happened. They never got drunk and did..._things_. As long as everyone else was concerned she was still the innocent Ally Dawson and he was still the outgoing aspiring singer, Austin Moon. There was nothing more going on between the two.

Even Austin and Ally managed to convince themselves that nothing ever happened at that party, but deep down, both of them knew the horrible truth. And through this, new feelings were discovered. Ally couldn't seem to control the jealousy that now raged within her whenever she saw Austin talking to a new girl or the electricity that jolted through her body whenever they "accidentally" brushed against each other. She also couldn't ignore the look Austin gave her whenever they made eye contact. It was as if there was something more hidden beneath those beautiful brown irises - something that had actually always been there deep down, ever since the first day they'd met at the store when he'd caught her attention by playing the drums with corndogs. He looked loving - like a best friend would - but also like he wanted something from her. Like he _needed _something from her. There was something there, she just couldn't quite figure out what it was.

She always wondered if he'd felt something for her deep down. Scratch that. She always _hoped _he'd felt something for her deep down. No matter how much denial she tryed to put herself through, she knew that she felt something for him. He was no longer only her best friend...but also her _first_. The fact that she couldn't even remember her own first time annoyed her, because she'd always pictured it to be at the perfect moment with someone she was in a very long-term relationship with, not a drunken one night stand with the best friend that she has mixed emotions about.

But in a way she was sort of glad it'd been Austin. It made her feel even more bonded to him than she did before, and she was just _praying _that he'd felt the same.

...but why would he? He was popular, outgoing, good-looking. Why would he want a shy, innocent, nervous girl like her? He could have so much more...

She pictures him living the good life. Fame, fortune, the most beautiful beach blonde wife with an hour glass figure, a reality TV show...nothing that involves her.

_Or a baby at the age of sixteen..._her thoughts echo.

Ally shook her head out of the millions of thoughts racing through her head and snapped back to reality. And this reality happened to be lying within the cheap piece of plastic that rested in the palms of her hands.

She squeezed her eyes shut, trying to fight back the tears.

What in the world was she supposed to do? She couldn't raise a baby. She was only sixteen, now entering her junior year of high school. She already has a hectic enough schedule of running the store six days out of the week, writing songs for Austin, and managing straight A's all at the same time. How would she fit raising a baby into all of this? She was supposed to make it big in the music business with Austin, go to school as a back up plan, meet the right guy, grow older, get married, and _then_ have a baby. That was how things were supposed to work out.

Apparently fate had a different plan for her though, being that these plans were now completely thrown off.

What exactly was she supposed to do? Abord it? No. The thought of making this all go away tempted her, but Ally knew she would never be able to live with herself knowing that she made the decision to kill a poor, innocent gift made from God. After all, none of this was its fault.

Adoption? _That would be a more reasonable option_, she thinks. She could go through with the pregnancy and give the child away to a family that would love and care for it. That way she wouldn't have to live with the guilt of abortion but would also be able to pursue her hopes and dreams without having to care for a baby 24/7.

But what would everyone think seeing innocent little Ally Dawson pregnant her junior year of high school? What would her father think? What would Trish think? What would Austin think?

_Oh God...Austin..._

Guilt suddenly started to build within her. He'd been working so hard to make it big in music, and now that he's been performing a lot of major opening acts, people are finally starting to notice him. He's almost reached the top of his climb to stardum, all he needs is a simple record deal. But with this pregnancy, everything will all be thrown off. His career can be put in jepordy if people know he got his own songwriter knocked up. What would people think then?

More importantly, if she were to tell him, would he be willing enough to put his career on the line to stand by her and hold her hand throughout the pregnancy? She sure hopes so. It's not like Austin to run away from his mistakes. He owns up to them, faces them like a man. And it's not like she's just some random girl he hooked up with at a party. She was Ally Dawson - his best friend, his song partner. He wouldn't leave her to deal with this all on her own, would he?

"Ally!" she jumped at the sound of her father's voice. "Ally, where are you? The store isn't going to run itself you know! I need you down at the register."

"I-I'll be right there dad!" she called back, picking herself up off the floor. She was sure to wrap up the pregnancy test in toilet paper so that it couldn't be seen while it was lying there in the trash. She thinks she might have a heart attack if anyone were to find out at the time being.

She took a little time in the mirror to wash her face of any trace of tears, and tryed to force a tiny smile. It was time to face the world with nothing but happyness, no matter how horribly terrified she felt deep down.

* * *

**So, what do you think? Like it, love it, hate it? I would love to hear your feedback, so please be sure to review! And I'm not sure when the next chapter will be up, it'll probably depend on the number of reviews I get.**


	2. Chapter 2

**I'm baaaaaccckkk! :D and I just want to say thank you to everyone who reviewed the previous chapter, I really apreciate it. Reviews make my day a little brighter :) and it's okay Austinandally11, I can take a little constructive criticism ^.^ I guess I just never really thought of it that way, maybe I'll add your suggestion in as a flashback sometime later in the story. **

**(I think I forgot this stupid thing last chapter. Ah well, nobody's perfect) but anyways...Disclaimer: I do not own Austin and Ally. Although I wish I did, because there would be **_**lots **_**more of Auslly. They're only like, the best couple ever :D**

**Alright...I'm going to shutup now.**

*****Read, Enjoy, Review*****

* * *

Ally tossed and turned in her bed. It seemed no matter which side or position she layed on, she just couldn't seem to drift off into a nice blissful sleep that could help her escape from the horror she called reality.

Ally had never really been good at keeping secrets. In fact, the longest she'd ever kept a secret before finding out about her pregnancy was less than forty minutes. She didn't know what it was about her that just felt the need to spill the truth, but lying to cover up something always tended to kill her from the inside-out. She hated keeping secrets.

It's been two weeks since she found out about the pregnancy, and she's actually been doing a rather good job at hiding it from everyone. She told her dad she caught the flu the first time he caught her coming down with morning sickness; she told Dez she'd barely eaten anything all day the first time her pregnancy cravings kicked in and she suddenly wanted to try one of his window burgers; she told Trish a bad grade in school threw her mood off whack the first time her hormones took a toll on her behavior; and she just recently told Austin that she had to cancel song practice for a cloud watchers emergency meet-up when really she was scheduled for her first doctors appointment tomorrow afternoon.

She sighed, suddenly feeling dizzy. She had to tell someone, she just had to. She thinks she might explode if she kept it hidden any longer. She sat up and reached for the phone on her nightstand, dialing Trish's number.

"Hello?" yawned Trish at the other end of the phone.

"Trish," Ally squeeked.

"Ally, why are you calling me? It's two in the morning on a school night. Shouldn't goody-two-shoes like you be in bed four hours ago?"

"Couldn't sleep...listen, I have something to tell you. Something _very_ important."

"If this is about the stupid English assignment in Mr. Patterson's class tomorrow - "

"Nonono, nothing like that."

"Then what?" Trish asked impatientyly. Ally sighed, pausing a moment.

"...I'm pregnant."

For a few seconds there was nothing but silence, until Trish's laughter filled the other end of the phone. "You, _pregnant?_ That's too funny Ally. You really got me there!"

When Ally responded with nothing but silence, Trish's laughter slowly died down. "...you mean, you're serious?"

"Mhm," Ally mumbled in response.

"Wait, you can't be serious. You are aware of how babies are made right? You've never..."

"I have," Ally practically whispered.

"With _who_?" Trish screamed in total shock. "And how, and _when_?"

"...Austin."

"_Austin?" _Trish gasped.

"Yes, Austin," Ally confirmed quietly.

"You mean Austin, Austin? As in Austin, the one we hang out every day - your best friend Austin?"

"Yes I mean Austin, as in Austin Moon." More silence.

"Well what are you waiting for?" Trish blew up in excitment. "I want details! Well not details _details_, just...you know what I mean."

"You know that big party Austin threw a few months back?" Ally began.

"Yes."

"Well...you see, Austin and I weren't in our right mind frames. We'd both had large amounts of alcohol, and...I don't know. Things got out of control. I woke up the next morning in his bed without any clothes on. It doesn't take a genius to figure out what had happened. But I didn't want things to change between us, so I just told him to forget that anything ever happened. And we did for a while, but then _this _happened..." she placed a hand on her stomach. "...and I don't know what to do, Trish. I'm sixteen, I'm not ready to be a mom."

"Have you thought about adoption or...the alternative..." Trish's voice drifted off.

"I think adoption would be the best option. I mean, I could give the baby away to a good family. A family with money and stability and all the necessities needed to take care of a child. All the things that I know I won't be able to provide for it."

"Will Austin have a say in any of this?" Trish questioned.

"I don't know...he's worked so hard to get to where he is, Trish. A baby would ruin everything. Maybe I should just handle this on my own."

"Ally, you know you have to tell him. Austin's not the brightest bulb in the tanning bed, but he's a good guy. I'm sure he'll be there to offer you support."

"Yeah I know. I'm just not quite sure how I'll be able to break the news to him without having a nervous break down. You're the only person I've told, you know."

"Well I'll always be here if you need anyone to talk to."

"Thanks, Trish." Ally couldn't help but smile. "Yanno, you're not all that great at a lot of jobs, but being my best friend is the one you'll always exceed at."

"Well thank you." Trish smiled too, yawning slightly. "Now if you'll excuse me, I need to catch up on my beauty rest. A tired Trish is not a happy Trish when it comes to seeing me in the morning."

"Alright," Ally laughed. "Night Trish."

She hung up when she got nothing but a loud snore in response.

* * *

The next day was pure turture for Ally. School seemed to drag on slower than usual, she had trouble concentrating on her geometry quiz while having to fight morning sickness, and she had to resist the urge to break down in front of Austin every time they met face to face.

She knew she had to tell him the truth sooner or later, but she just couldn't seem to find the right timing. She didn't want to tell him at school - there were too many people there. The best time would probably be during song practice, but the thought of exactly how she would break the news to him terrified her.

It wasn't until study hall that the perfect idea hit her.

She planned to tell him tomorrow during song practice, being that she couldn't do it today because of her doctors appointment. Because she knows she could never find the right words to say, she was going to break the news to him in song. That was her specialty after all.

His reaction...now that's something she won't be able to plan. In fact, that's the one thing she's dreading. She just hopes he won't freak out on her and run out of the store.

"_Ally!" _she hears someone whisper from the table behind her. She turns around to see Dez sitting there, balancing a pencil on his nose. "_Check this out Ally. I've been balancing this pencil on my nose for exactly forty-five minutes. Only eight hours, twelve minutes, and fifty-seven more seconds to go and I'll have the world record beat!" _Ally simply smiled and rolled her eyes in response.

The school bell went off, signaling that seventh hour was over. Only one more class and Ally was home bound.

"Good luck with that, Dez," she said to her friend as she gathered her things. She couldn't help but giggle a little at the goofy redhead as he tryed to dodge teenagers in the crowded school hallway while balancing a pencil on his nose at the same time.

* * *

Ally sat in the waiting room of the clinic, waiting rather impatiently for the nurse to come out and call her name. People looked at her weirdly as she sat there absent-mindedly chewing her hair.

"Allison Dawson," finally came the voice of an African-American nurse. "Dr. Wesburg is ready to see you in room 402."

"Thank you," Ally muttered to the lady as she got up from her seat, smoothing out her dress.

She made her way down the hallway and into the doctors office. Dr. Wesburg was a nice woman with big glasses, a dark brown ponytail that ran down her back, and a welcoming smile.

At first Ally was given a hospital gown to get dressed in, and the woman went through asking Ally a bunch of questions about her diet and how much she weighed and what not. It took a few minutes until Ally was finally able to see the baby via sonogram. The doctor showed her what she refered to as a fetus from all different angles. It was actually quite cool, and normally a very happy moment in a woman's life, if it was happening at the right time. But for Ally it was happening at the worst time possible, so it was hard to be happy. She couldn't help but smile a bit when she was shown the baby's face though. It wasn't very developed being that she was only about twelve weeks along - as the doctor had informed her - but it was still clear that the baby had some of Austin's features. That brought her a bit of joy. She knew that no matter how crappy the situation was, this was still a tiny gift from God, made specifically from her and Austin.

At the end of the appointment Ally thanked the woman with a warm smile and was given a small package full of sonogram pictures. She tucked them in her purse, making sure to keep them hidden as she walked down to the bus stop on the corner of the road.

* * *

Ally threw a few books into her bag, slung it over her shoulder, and closed her locker before making her way down the school hallway.

She was dreading the end of school that day. The end of school meant she was only a mere hour and a half away from song practice, which meant she was only a few moments away from telling Austin the truth, which meant she was only a few half seconds away from watching him freak out over the news she had in store for him.

"Hey Ally!" she heard a familiar voice coming from behind her. Ally turned on her heal to look into the dark brown eyes of none other than her best friend and musical partner, Austin Moon.

"Hey Austin!" she beamed, giving him the brightest, most phoney smile she could pull off. "What can I do for you?"

_Stay strong Ally, stay strong Ally, stay strong Ally..._

"Oh, I don't need anything," he said. She crossed her arms, looking up at him knowingly.

"...okay, so I do need something," he confessed. "You know Michelle Robinson in fourth hour?"

"Yes, I know Michelle." Ally couldn't help but cringe a little at the name of the beautiful blonde ditz that sat behind her in chemistry. "...what about her?"

"It's just, I sort of, you know...asked her out on a date, and she said yes, but she's only free today...at four o'clock."

"But that's when we have song practice," Ally pouted. "You promised me you wouldn't skip anymore."

"I know, I know...but please Ally? Just this one time? It's Michelle Robinson for heaven's sake. Please, please, please, please, _please_?" he laced his hands together, giving her the puppy-dog pout.

She glared at him, trying to fight the jealousy boiling inside of her. After all, her best friend/complicated-sort-of-crush/musical partner/clueless baby daddy was asking her permission to go out on a date with another girl. A girl who happened to be one of the prettiest in the whole school, and probably all of Miami...but on the other hand, this date would give her more time before she'd have to tell him. Ally had never been much of a procrastinator, but she was willing to make an exception.

She sighed, rolling her eyes. "Fine, but just this one time."

"Thank you, thank you, thank you, _thank you_! Your the best song partner ever!" He threw his arms around her and Ally felt her heart beat quicken a bit as he loosened his grip to give her a quick peck on the forehead. He looked down at her and flashed her one of those warm Austin Moon smiles with that _look_ in his eyes, before awkwardly letting go.

"I guess I'll see you later Ally."

"Yeah, see you."

They exchanged rather awkward smiles before he slowly fixed his hair and walked away.

* * *

**So that was kind of a sucky chapter, huh? I'm sorry, I don't want to feel like I'm losing you guys. I just still need some time to think about how Austin will react, how other characters will react, and what exactly is going to happen next. I can promise you that next chapter will have a lot in store though. These first two chapters are just getting the story started, and I think I'm getting some good ideas on what will happen next. I would still love to hear your suggestions though, so...review? :) and by the way, I'm not all that great at timing my writing, but I'll tell you what. Since I got 10 reviews on my last chapter, if I get at least 12 on this one (which will make at least 22 reviews total) then I'll post chapter 3 in less than a week. If there's less than 12 reviews, then it'll take over a week. So don't be shy, review review review!**


	3. Chapter 3

**Alright, so here's chapter 3 for you! :) Looks like I got a total of 23 reviews to just barely pass the marker, and like I promised, I updated in less than a week. And JuliaForever, I didn't mean to sound like I was begging for reviews. It's just, my reviewers inspire me to go on in stories. If I don't have people reviewing, I just don't see any point in going on with a story. But it's okay, I didn't take any offense to what you said. And yes, you guys will get to go more into Austin's insight on the situation from now and on into the story. I just made the first two chapters dedicated to Ally because after all, she is the one who's pregnant. **

**But anyways, thanks to those who did review. Your suggestions really do help me figure out what should happen next in the story. You guys truly are awesome.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Austin and Ally or any of its characters.**

*****Read, Enjoy, Review*****

* * *

"No, no...ugh, that's not right!" Ally crumbled the piece of paper up and chucked it into the pile of others lying across the practice room floor. She groaned in frustration, slamming her head down on the keys of the piano.

_"This is hopeless..."_

She'd been trying for hours to write that song she planned to tell Austin about the baby with, but nothing seemed to come to mind. The lyrics she wrote down just didn't seem to flow right together. She sat up, placing a hand over her unnoticably pregnant stomach.

"Do you have any ideas?" she whispered to her unborn child, and she sighed when she got nothing in response. It was getting late, she figured she better get home. She stuck her songbook into her book bag before getting up to head for the door, only to be taken surprise by the familiar blonde singer standing in the doorway.

"Austin!" she gasped. "What are you doing here?"

"What? A guy can't stop by to say hi to his best friend after the longest date of his life?" He grinned, throwing his hands in the air innocently.

"Not when it's ten o'clock at night and she thinks she's the only one in the store. You scared me half to dealth."

"Well I'm sorry," Austin said, though he sounded more joyful than guilty. "I just saw a poster board for fried pickles in the mall, and - "

"Fried pickles?" Ally asked, arching an eyebrow. "Sounds weird...but delicious." Austin chuckled, pulling something out of the white paper bag that he'd been holding.

"I figured you'd say that," he said, handing her a fried pickle on a stick. "I don't know, when I was on my date with Michelle I saw the poster board and it made me think of you."

Ally tryed to fight the blush spreading over her cheeks. He'd been thinking of _her _while he was on a date with _Michelle Robinson_.

"Thanks, Austin. How did your date with Michelle go?"

"Terrible," he hoffed, rolling his eyes.

"Really?" Ally rose an eyebrow. "She's only, like, one of the most wanted girls in all of Miami High. I thought you'd come back totally in love."

"In love?" Austin laughed. "I felt like I was talking to a brick wall for nearly a whole four hours. The girl has got to be one of the dumbest I've ever met in my life."

"Oh, well that's a relief," Ally muttered, taking a bite into her pickle.

"Why's that?" Austin asked quizzically. Ally's eyes widened in surprise, disbelieving she'd just let that slip out.

"I mean...the girl's not the brightest. You want a girl with at least some sort of brain, don't you?" _Kind of like me, _she thought.

"I guess so," he shrugged.

"So it kind of sucks that you cancelled song practice for a bust of a date, huh?"

"Totally. Never again will I ever ditch my best friend for a stupid date, okay?" Ally merely nodded in response. She took the last bite of her pickle and attempted to throw the stick ten feet away in the small trash can next to the piano. It fell short, landing a few inches in front of the can.

"I've got it," Austin said as he got up to throw the white stick in the trash. He rose an eyebrow at the pile of crumbled up papers lying around. "Having trouble writing songs, Ally?"

"Um...I guess you can say that," Ally muttered. She felt her heart beat quicken as he picked up one of the crumbled up papers and started to unfold it. "Austin - wait!"

"Come on, I'm sure the lyrics can't be that bad. Maybe I can help." He unfolded the paper to see a few small words written on it.

"Austin, I don't think - " but it was too late, his eyes were already scanning over the paper.

"_And I know this isn't easy, being so young. We're wild and free, having fun. But not anymore because I'm having your baby." _He rose an eyebrow at her.

"Ally, what kind of lyrics are these? I mean, what kind of a metaphor lies underneath having someone's baby?"

Ally sighed, squeezing her eyes shut. _It was time to face the music._ "That's because it's not a metaphor." Austin gave her a look of pure confusion.

"Well Ally...I'm not having anyone's baby."

"Don't you get it!" Ally suddenly shouted, taking Austin by surprise. "Of course you're not having a baby, you're the guy. You're the lucky one. That song was written for me to sing...Austin, _I'm _the one that's having a baby."

"Wait..._what_?" Austin croaked.

"And I'm not just having anyone's baby...I'm having _your _baby."

Austin felt his heartbeat quicken at these few words, and the room suddenly felt like it was blazing hot.

"What, I mean, you..._huh_?" was all he could manage to say. Ally walked over to the piano to get a brown packet out of her bag. She opened the small package to pull out a photo, and turned it over to show the black and white image of a small unborn baby.

"I was planning to break the news to you in song, but I just couldn't seem to find the right lyrics. I'm three months pregnant, with your baby."

It was over. The truth was out into the open. She prayed Austin would say something, _anything_, but nothing was coming out. He just stood there, looking like he'd just seen a ghost. "Austin?" she asked, waving a hand in front of his face. "Austin?"

And then something unexpected happened.

He fainted.

* * *

_"Austin...Austin...Austin, wake up!"_

Austin's vision was fuzzy. All his eyes could register was this beautiful, brunette, angelic figure, begging him to wake up. He opened his eyes wider to find out this figure was his best friend and musical partner - Ally Dawson.

"_Ally_," he said, smiling up at her. Her lips curved into a smile as well and she sighed in relief.

"Thank God your awake. You were out for at least a good five minutes."

"I had the weirdest dream, Ally. You'd never believe it. _You _were telling me you were _pregnant _with _my _baby. Weird right?" Her lips curved into a small frown at these words.

"Austin, that wasn't a dream." His eyes widened and he felt as if he could black out all over again.

"No, I'm not losing you again!" she shouted, lifting him up off the ground and onto the piano stool. They sat in an awkward silence for a little bit, both lost at words to say.

"Ally, how did this happen?" Austin finally spoke up, looking directly into her dark brown irirses.

"You rememeber that party you threw a few months back after playing opening act at that big concert downtown?" she began. Austin nodded. "And you remember what happened at that party, don't you? You remember that we, we um..." she still couldn't seem to get the words out.

"Had sex?" he finished casually.

"Yeah...that. Anyways, _that's _how this happened."

"And now you're pregnant..._with a baby_?" Ally rolled her eyes.

"No, I'm having a dolphin," she said sarcastically. "Yes with a baby!" Tears started to form at the corners of her eyes. "I wasn't sure at first, so I went to the store and bought a test...and it turned out to be positive. But they say pregnancy tests aren't always accurate, so I wound up taking five more, and every single one of them turned out positive. And I didn't know how to tell you so I was planning to during song practice, but I was just lost for words." She took a seat next to him on the piano stool, taking a deep breath.

"Als, what are we going to do?" Austin whispered.

"I was thinking I'd give the baby away. Yanno, that way I wouldn't feel horrible about myself for terminating the pregnancy, but at the same time we wouldn't have to be the main caretakers of the baby. Austin, you have such a great life ahead of you. You've worked so hard to get where you are...and this baby would ruin everything...so I'm already thinking I'm going to give it up, okay?"

Austin couldn't seem to respond. This was all too much for his brain to register immediately.

"Austin?" Ally spoke softly. "Austin, please say something."

"I've gotta go," he choked out. And before Ally even got the chance to react, he was gone. She stood there in stunned silence, accepting that all of her greatest fears had come true.

* * *

"You mean...he just left?" Trish spoke on the other end of the phone.

"Yes," Ally sniffled. She sat in her bed, surrounded by a thousand used tissues and chocolates. "I mean, I didn't expect him to not freak out, but I didn't expect him to just...leave. What if he never speaks to me again?"

"Ally you can't think that way. I'm sure Austin will talk to you, he just needs time. Must be a lot of news to take in."

"Yeah, I guess," she muttered. "...I just don't want to deal with this on my own, you know?"

"Yes I know, Ally," Trish said soothingly. "I know."

* * *

Austin sat at the beach late that night, soaking in all of his thoughts. He didn't know where else to go, but being that it was late and there weren't many people there, it was the only place he could truly be alone - away from the rest of the world. He didn't want to be around Trish, Dez, his parents, or even Ally at the moment.

_Oh Ally...what have I done..._

He stared off into the ocean as a certain flashback came to mind.

_It was late the night of the party. Austin's house was totally trashed, drunken people were dancing everywhere, music was cranked to its highest volume. While all of this was going on, a certain petite brunette was sitting in the corner of the room, looking totally out of place. She was joting stuff down in her songbook, not even paying much attention to her surroundings. She must have been pretty lonely, being that Trish was no where in sight._

_Austin wiggled his way through crowds of people to take a seat beside her. He didn't say anything at first, just tryed to look over her shoulder to see what she was writing. It took a moment for her to notice him, and she snapped her songbook shut._

_"Austin, you know I hate it when people try to look in my book."_

_"Well I hate it when people don't look like they're having any fun at my party," he retorted. "I mean come on Ally, who writes in their journal at a party?" She looked at the ground rather sadly, then back at the aspiring singer._

_"I don't belong here Austin."_

_"Of course you do!" He stood up, grabbing both of her hands and pulling her up off of the couch. "Dance with me?" Ally rolled her eyes at this._

_"Austin, you know I'm a terrible dancer. I'll just embarrass myself."_

_"No you won't. Nobody here cares. Most of them probably won't even remember this night, and those who will will probably look at it as a good time. And you could too, if you would just loosen up a bit."_

_"Austin I really don't - "_

_"Please, Ally," he interrupted, looking down at her with his big brown eyes. "Just this once will you let loose and show your wild side? I know it's in there somewhere. Just put your songbook up in my room where no one can find it - because I know how paranoid you get when it comes to that book - and then come back down and dance with me. Let loose, have a good time."_

_Ally wanted to protest, but caved in to Austin's puppy dog look. "Fine," she sighed, picking up her songbook. "I'll be right back Austin." She disappeared up the stairs towards Austin's bedroom and returned a few moments later. _

_They danced together. His moves were smooth, and her dancing surprisingly wasn't as bad as usual. She started off a little stiff, but after a while the rhythm just seemed to guide her._

_"See Ally, I told you you could let loose!" Austin smiled big at her. She smiled back, and for some wild reason, he realizes at that exact moment, that she's kind of beautiful. He suddenly feels the desire to kiss her, as she's standing there dancing like a mad woman. _

_"Anyone up for a game of beer pong?" a guy shouted from across the room, snapping Austin out of his daze. _

_"I am!" he responded almost immediately. "And my partner is...Ally!" _

_Ally's eyes widened in shock, and she felt the need to run as everyone's eyes fell on her. After all, she hated being the center of attention._

_"Austin, you know I don't drink," she whispered into her best friend's ear. _

_"Come on Ally. Let loose, forget that you're shy and smart and a major goody-two-shoes for just this one night. You're safe in my house, I won't let anything bad happen to you." He smiled, handing his hand out to her. She thought for a moment, trying to ignore the fact that the whole room was staring at her. She looked up into the eyes of her best friend, and her lips slowly curved into a smile._

_"Alright...I'm in." She took Austin's hand and they made their way over to a table where three guys were pouring beer into about twenty red cups, ten on each side of the table. When the game got started, Ally wasn't all that great of a partner at first, but when she got the hang of it - to everyone's surprise - she was amazingly good. _

_Ally wound up winning her first game of beer pong, and she hadn't liked the taste all that much, but the thrill of winning a drinking game took over. She wanted more. _

_Her and Austin wound up going undefeated that night, and by one in the morning - they were smashed. They wobbled their way past people crashed out on the floor in Austin's living room, both of them laughing about nothing in particular. _

_"This was fun..." Ally slurred. "...but I better be getting home. Nighty nights Austin." She gave him a firm and rather long hug goodbye, and turned for the door. "Wait - " she gasped. "My songbook...come get my songbook with me Austin." She grabbed his hand and they wobbled upstairs together, nearly tripping over each other a lot in the process. Once they were in his room, Ally was on a search for her songbook. "Now where did I put it...hear we go." She picked the songbook up from the top of Austin's dresser - right where she'd left it._

_She was taken by surprise when she turned around only to see Austin, towering over her - shirtless. He grabbed her by the waist, pulling her close. There was a lustful look in his eyes as he leaned in, pressing his lips softly against hers. It took a moment for her intoxicated brain to register what was happening, but eventually, she carelessly dropped her songbook to cup his cheeks with her hands, kissing him back. _

_"Stay with me?" Austin whispered against her lips. _

_And in her drunken phase, all Ally could respond with was another sloppy kiss on the lips._

Ally will always have a special place in Austin's heart. Not only because she was his best friend or his muscial partner, but also because he'd shared a very special moment in his life with her - his first time. He couldn't help but feel a little bonded to her, and he felt as if there was something more going on between them ever since the night of the party; something that he always felt deep down. He can admit to himself he might have felt a little jealous whenever he saw Ally swooning over Dallas, and that he'd do anything to cover up what little feelings he had for her - which included dying himself orange and forcing himself to exercise for hours on end to make it look like he was soaked in sweat. Sometimes he wondered if they could ever have been something more, if they each wanted to put forth that effort.

But why would she want him? Ally was such a promising girl. She was smart, kind, caring. She could have such a bright future...

He pictures her living the ideal lifestyle: graduating high school with a 4.0 gpa, graduating from a decent college, meeting a handsome guy, getting married, having a few brainiac kids...nothing that involves him.

_Or raising a baby at sixteen..._his thoughts scream.

He wanted her to go on and live her hopes and dreams, have the stupid ideal life that doesn't involve him with a loving husband and kids. But at the same time, he felt unsure about going through with the adoption...he wasn't ready to be a father, but at the same time, he wasn't totally sure he wanted to give his kid away to random strangers.

Because - even in this awful situation he and Ally were being thrown into - this was _his _kid. As in _his _blood. _His _own. And even though he's not quite ready to be a dad...he still feels the need to protect it. He never wants anything bad to happen to it.

Austin wasn't shaken out of these thoughts until he felt a tiny raindrop splash down onto his face. That's when he realized it was time to leave the beach - time to go make things right.

* * *

Ally sat in her bedroom, writing away in her songbook. She poured all of her feelings out onto a fresh piece of paper. Her feelings towards Austin, the baby, how terrified she was that Austin was leaving her to deal with this on her own. _Everything_.

Her diary rant was interrupted by a soft knock on the front door. She closed the book to go answer the door, and was taken aback by who it turned out to be.

"...Austin?"

Austin stood in the doorway of Ally and her father's small duplex, shivering from the cold rain. He was soaked from head to toe, and his blonde locks dripped water onto the carpet.

"A-Ally? I-is it alright if I c-come in?"

"Yes, of course, just wait right here." She ran into her bedroom real quick to get a blanket, and threw it over Austin's shivering form. "Better?"

"Much." He smiled kindly at her as they took a seat on the couch.

"I'm sorry for acting the way I did earlier," Austin spoke softly. "I know this is just as difficult for you as it is for me, and I shouldn't have walked out like that. It's just one moment I'm back from a horrible date and the next my best friend's telling me she's pregnant with my baby. I didn't know what to do...so I ran."

"It's okay Austin, it's a lot to take in," Ally said soothingly.

"I know it is...and I just came here to let you know that I'm going to be here for you, no matter what decision you make. I'll support you. I'll take you to every single doctors appointment, I'll stand by you...we can get through this, together." He gave her a reassuring smile that brought joyful tears to her eyes. Ally wrapped her arms around him, burying her face into the sleeve of his shirt.

"Words cannot even describe how happy I am to hear that," she sniffled. "...but I have to admit, I'm terrified, Austin. Terrified of what kids at school will think, terrified of what my father will think. He gets home from his business trip from New York in two days, I'm going to have to tell him sooner or later."

"I know," Austin cooed, stoking her hair. "It's okay to be scared, Als. Screw the kids at school, I could care less about their opinions. And as for your dad...I'll come with you when we tell him. That way maybe he'll focus all of his anger on me so that he'll completely forget you're in the room. Just know that whatever happens, I'm here for you."

"Thanks Austin," she yawned. A few minutes passed and they just stayed like that - enjoying each other's embrace. It took Austin a few minutes to realize that Ally had fallen asleep in his arms. He smiled down at her sleeping face and picked her up off the couch to carry her to her bedroom.

"Goodnight Ally," he whispered, giving her a soft kiss on the forehead. And with that, he turned off the lights and strolled home.

* * *

**Cute little ending to that chapter, huh? I'm not aiming for any amount of reviews anymore, because like I said last time, it's rather hard for me to time my writing. I can promise I'll try to update as soon as possible though. But just because I'm not asking for reviews anymore doesn't mean you shouldn't. I'd still love to hear your opinions :) **


	4. Chapter 4

**Before I begin this chapter, I just wanna say thanks for all the reviews, favorites, and alerts. You guys really are my motivation to keep writing. :) **

**And I think a few of you mentioned how the sonogram having Austin's features back in chapter 2 to be a bit unrealistic, which I guess it could be. Although I do recall in an episode of 16 & pregnant one of the girls saying that the sonogram of her baby looked like the father. Also in Juno, Juno says that she thinks the baby looks like Bleeker before its born. But oh well, perhaps that was a bit realistic. Personally I've never been pregnant myself, but hey...I'm trying to make the story sound realistic, and despite that minor detail, I'm doing pretty good - right? ^.^**

**- And I just felt the need to get these feelings out somewhere - I just got done watching the new episode where Austin has that crush on the waitress lady. I was just sitting there like, wtf? He's into her because she's pretty and she has a passion for music. And Ally is into Dallas because he has 'kind eyes', a 'nice smile', and 'hair that flips just the right way'. Heeelllooooo? Austin, Ally's pretty and has a passion for music; Ally, Austin has every single one of those qualities! Why won't these two wake up and realize they're meant for **_**each other**_** and nobody else?**

**Haha, but anyways (now that I've got that off my chest) thanks to all of you, and now for the stupid disclaimer...**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Austin and Ally or any of its characters.**

*****Read, Enjoy, Review*****

* * *

"How long do these things normally take?" Austin asked Ally as they sat in the waiting room of the clinic. Ally looked up from her magazine, a bit annoyed.

"Austin, we already discussed this. It depends. First she'll ask about my health history, like to make sure my diet is healthy and I'm taking my vitamins and all that stuff. Then she'll run a few tests, we'll get to see the baby, and boom - we're done." She turned her attention back to the page where she left off.

"...and how often do we have to come here again?" Austin interrupted again, earning an eye roll from Ally.

"Let's see...right now I'm sixteen weeks along, and the doctor told me to show up every four weeks until I'm about thirty-eight weeks along, then I'm supposed to visit once or twice a week until the baby's born. So in about twenty-four odd weeks we can pretend like none of this ever happened."

Austin didn't respond, just rested his head on his palm and tryed to get in a nice nap.

He hated the clinic. Not only because of the odd way it smelled or how the mints they had set out on the tables were most likely stale, but because of the way everyone kept staring at him and Ally. Austin never minded being the center of attention, but he couldn't help but feel a little annoyed at the grown up couples sitting in other areas of the room, whispering things while looking directly at Ally. It took everything in him to sit there and pretend like he didn't feel the negative attention.

A few minutes later - when Austin was just about to fall asleep - a young nurse walked into the room, calling Ally's name.

"That's us," Ally said, tapping Austin on the knee. Austin did a little stretch and followed her into a room down the hall. He was greeted by a short woman with kind eyes and long hair.

"Hello, I'm Dr. Wesburg," the woman said, offering her hand.

"Hey I'm Austin," Austin said politely, shaking her hand. "I'm the - "

"He's my friend!" Ally bumped in. "My _best _friend, my other half, here to offer me moral support during this tough time I'm going through." Austin rose an eyebrow quizically at her, and Ally shot him a knowing glare in return. Dr. Wesburg merely smiled - seeming clueless to it all.

"Nice to meet you, Austin. It's very nice of you to be here to offer your friend support." Austin flashed her a genuine smile before taking a seat on the chair next to the clinic bed.

He stared off into space as Ally was given a full body examination, wondering why Ally had introduced him as her best friend, rather than the baby's father. They were supposed to be going through this together - which meant both of them were equally supposed to be taking the blame - right? He'd tried to step up and take responsibility for his actions. In fact, he was supposed to go job hunting with Dez later on so that he could help pay for the medical bills Ally found in the mail a few days ago. She was glad she'd found them before her father could, being that she still hadn't gotten the nerve to tell him about the lovely situation she was in.

And Dez...oh Dez...unfortunately the guy was sixteen years old and still unaware of how babies were made. Ally tried to explain it to him softly, but wound up getting tongue-tied, so Trish took over. She spoke in a rather harsh and straight-forward tone, leaving Dez emotionally scarred. Afterwards, the poor guy didn't sleep for two nights straight.

"Now would you like to see your baby?" Dr. Wesburg finally asked, snapping Austin out of his daze. He perked up, growing a bit excited.

"Are we ever!"

Dr. Wesburg smiled at his enthusiasm, then turned to Ally. "Alright, lift your shirt."

Ally did so, lifting her shirt just so her stomach was showing. Blue goo was squeezed across her abdomin, causing Ally to shiver a bit. Then a device was run over the goo and in a few short seconds, the black and white image of a small unborn baby was shown. The doctor showed images of the baby at all different angles. Ally smiled casually, talking to the doctor a bit as the little slideshow was given.

Austin - on the other hand - was lost for words. He stared at the screen, smiling from ear to ear as he stared mindlessly at the image of the baby. _His _baby.

That's when everything became so intensely _real_.

A few minutes later the pictures were taken off of the screen, and one was given to Ally for keeps. Dr. Wesburg gave Ally a towel so that she could wipe the blue goo off of her tummy.

"You can come into my office when you're ready," the doctor said before leaving the room.

"Come into her office for what?" Austin asked.

"You'll find out. Just follow me," Ally answered, covering up her stomach and hopping off of the clinic bed. Austin did as he was told, following Ally into an office across the hall.

Dr. Wesburg sat at a desk in the small room, filling out a few papers. She looked up to see Austin and Ally standing in the doorway. "Please, take a seat." She shoved the papers into a filing cabnet and turned her attention towards them as they each took a seat on the opposite side of the desk. "So, Ally's told me you're both looking into adoption. Is this correct?" she locked eyes with Austin.

Austin frowned, looking away. He'd just slightly fallen in love with a small picture of his unborn child, only to be reminded that it wouldn't be his after all. It would be which ever couple to sign the stupid adoption papers. _Life was cruel_.

Ever since Ally brought up the idea of adoption, Austin hadn't been so sure about it. His feelings have remained that way ever since, and now that he's _seen _his child and _felt_ how real this situation was becoming, he couldn't help but feel a little attached. He looked at the picture Dr. Wesburg had set out on her desk. It was of herself, a man whom he assumed to be her husband, and two kids - a boy and a girl. The picture was taken in a green field, and they all looked so_ happy _it made Austin want to puke.

Because of this adoption, he and Ally wouldn't be able to feel that unbrital joy that kids seemed to bring to their parents. He wasn't ready for a child, but at the same time he felt like that joy of being a parent could trump anything - including the fact that he didn't have a stable job, or that he was still in high school, or that he and Ally weren't together, or even that it could put his rising career as a rockstar at risk.

_But_...Ally wanted to go through with the adoption, and he'd promised her he'd go along with whatever she wanted.

Ally and Dr. Wesburg stared at Austin suspiciously, both waiting for a response. Ally kicked his foot, knocking him back down to earth.

"Oh!" Austin said, shaking his head. "...yes, we're looking into adoption."

"Okay, because there are agencies that can help you plan an adoption," Dr. Wesburg explained. "You can get to know the couple to make sure your 100 percent comfortable with giving your child to them. I'm sure you'd want what's best, right?"

"Of course," Ally beamed. Austin sat there, pretending the fact that they were both so eager to give his kid away didn't bother him at all.

"Alright," Dr. Wesburg said with a bright smile. "Here are some adoption flyers, and on the inside there's a number that you can call if you wanted to schedule an appointment to meet a nice couple."

"Thank you," Ally responded as her and Austin got up to leave. "I really appretiate it."

"No, thank _you_." Dr. Wesburg smiled. "This really is a generous and selfless thing you both are doing." Ally smiled in return, not even noticing that Austin was already halfway out the door.

* * *

Austin and Dez sat down at the local pretzal place in the mall, both munching on soft pretzals and taking sips of their drinks. Dez babbled away about his crazy adventures earlier that day, while Austin pretended to listen.

"And then I was like...um, Austin?" Dez waved a hand in front of his friend's face.

"Oh!" Austin shouted. "Uh, sorry Dez...it's just, I've got a lot on my mind right now."

"I understand, buddy," Dez consoled. "Must be hard. I mean, you and Ally are bringing a real live kid into the world. I don't think it gets any more serious than that."

Austin sat there, mindlessly picking at his pretzel. "...Dez?" he spoke up.

"What's up?" Dez asked, swallowing a sip of his drink.

"Have you ever wanted something so badly you think you might explode if you couldn't have it?"

"Austin, I feel that way every time I lay my eyes on a brand new can of chicken pot pie," Dez said casually. "What do you want so badly you think you'd explode if you couldn't have it?"

"Well ya see," Austin began. "I went to Ally's doctors appointment this morning thinking it'd be no big deal. I just thought she'd get checked out, we'd see the baby for two seconds, and boom - I could go on and live the day like I usually would...but something happened that I didn't expect."

"And what's that?"

"When we saw the baby, at first it was like I couldn't get my eyes off of it. There somewhere in the deepest bowels of Ally's stomach...was _my _child. It just hit me that this really is happening...Ally's having my baby."

Austin couldn't help but smile a little at these next few words. "And as I sat there, lost for words, I realized something...Dez, I want this kid more than anything."

"Did you let Ally know about this?" Dez questioned.

"No," Austin murmured. "After the appointment Ally's doctor led us into her office, and introduced us to the whole idea of adoption. She said we could get to know the adoptive parents so that we can get comfortable with the idea of actually giving the baby away. I tried to stay positive about the whole thing, but the entire time we were there I had the worst feeling in the pit of my stomach. I just have a feeling that no matter how comfortable I get around these people, I'm still never going to get comfortable with the idea of giving this baby up."

"You need to let that out to Ally, man," Dez said. "You can't just keep these feelings bottled up inside."

"I know," Austin replied. "It's just...I promised Ally I'd stand by her, no matter what decision she made. As of right now she has her heart set on adoption, so I've got no choice but go along with it."

"That's rough." Dez finished off his food and chucked the remains in the nearby trashcan. "Now let's say we go for a bit of job hunting, get your mind off of everything?"

"Yeah," Austin smiled. "Let's do it."

* * *

Austin and Dez emerged into Sonic Bomb later that day, smiles lighting both of their faces. Austin jogged straight for the front desk. "Hey Ally, guess wha - "

He was taken by surprise when Trish popped up from behind the desk, a sleepy look gracing her features and a blanket wrapped around her form. Austin rose an eyebrow at her.

"Uh, Trish...where's Ally?"

"She said she had to go look for something upstairs," Trish yawned. "She asked me to watch the store for five minutes."

"You mean," Dez appeared behind Austin. "You can't even watch the store for five minutes without falling asleep on the job?"

"Watch it, Dez." Trish shot a warning glare at the red head. "We all know I'm not the working type, if anything it's Ally's fault for leaving me in charge."

Austin and Dez looked at each other, both shrugging in agreement. "So Ally's upstairs?" Austin asked. Trish gave him a yes in response and he bolted for the stairs.

"Ally guess what! I - "

Austin stopped dead in his tracks at the sight of his best friend looking frantically around the practice room, throwing things everywhere in a desprit need to find something. "Ally are you oka - "

"No!" Ally screamed, turning to Austin with a beyond horrified look in her eyes. "Austin, my songbook is gone. I can't find it anywhere. Not in the store, not in the mall, not in my house. It's gone." Tears started to form at the corners of her eyes.

"Calm down, Ally," Austin said soothingly, placing his hands on her shoulders. "We'll find your book, it's been lost before, hasn't it? It's got to be around here somewhere."

"No, Austin...you don't understand." Ally hated the fact that her voice was cracking. "That book doesn't just have song ideas and a few embarrassing diary entries about my old crush on Dallas anymore. Now there's entries about doctor visits, my pregnancy, and I think I might have left the sonogram from earlier in there. If anyone reads it, it'll be the end of me." Tears started to run down her cheeks, and Austin cupped her face in his hands so he could wipe them away with his thumbs. Ally tried to fight the blush spreading across her cheeks at this nice - yet intimate - gesture.

"Come on, Trish isn't the best person to leave in charge," Austin said calmly. "You should probably get back to the register. Your songbook will be found eventually, you just have to calm down." He gave her a reassuring smile, and they both walked to the bathroom so Ally could wash her face of any remaining tears.

"So, what were you going to tell me?" Ally asked as she ran a towel over her features.

"My interview today at the local pizza place went really well," Austin grinned, crossing his arms and leaning against the door frame. "They said I should be able to go in for training on Monday. It doesn't pay much, but hey - at least it's something. Your doctor bills should be payed off in a matter of weeks."

Ally smiled, walking over to wrap her arms around her best friend. "You're the best," she muttered against his shirt.

"I know I am," Austin responded, accepting the hug. "But I must admit, there is something that's been bothering me."

"What's that?" Ally asked, looking up at him.

"At the doctor's office, why'd you introduce me as your best friend, rather than the baby's father?"

"Oh," Ally said, pulling away from him and tucking a strand of hair behind her ear.

"You see Austin, I have faith in you. _A lot _of faith in you. Probably more faith than anyone I've ever known. And I have faith that after this is all over, you will go on to do great things. You'll live out your dreams and become a rockstar. But you know that if you want to be a rockstar, you'll have to live the rockstar lifestyle. Parties, girls...and a ton of fame. You'll have papparazzi on your tail 24/7, and if important people like doctors knew that you had a baby young, that could come back to bite you in the butt later on in life. And our kid could be tormented because of it." She looked at the ground sadly.

"I guess I never thought of it that way," Austin murmured, avoiding eye contact. "Als, are you totally sure you want to give the baby away?"

"Yes," Ally said, although there was a ring of doubt in her voice. "Why are you asking?"

"It's just - " Austin was interrupted by a loud crash and a yell from Trish coming from downstairs.

"Uh-oh," Ally muttered. "Hold that thought for some other time Austin. I've got to get back to work."

And with that, she pushed past him and ran downstairs.

* * *

Ally opened the front door of her house later that night, only to find her dad sitting alone in the kitchen. He looked angry, yet sad - as if he was trying to fight having a nervous break down or something. Ally cocked an eyebrow at this suspicious behavior.

"Dad I'm home," she tried to get his attention. Lester simply ignored her, burying his head in his hands.

"Daddy?" Ally whispered, placing a hand on his shoulder. "Are you alright?" The two were engulfed in a strange silence as Ally stood there, worried.

"Ally, how long did you think you could keep this a secret?" Lester finally spoke, lifting his head and looking at his daughter with the most hurt look he could possibly give.

Ally felt her heart beat pick up a pace, and she swallowed hard. "I have no idea what you're talking about."

"Ally, don't play dumb," Lester said. "What happened to my honest, innocent little girl? You know exactly what I'm talking about."

Ally felt lost for words, as another strange silence took over the room. _He knew._

"How did you find out?" Ally finally asked, her voice shaking.

"Your songbook," Lester admitted.

"Dad, I've been looking for that book all day. I thought someone stole it. And not to mention that's a total invasion of privacy! _How could you!_" Ally spat.

"Honey," Lester's tone was suddenly soft as tears started to form in his own eyes. "I was worried. You've been acting very strange lately with canceling work and constantly being sick. I grew suspicious, so I read a few recent entries in your book. It was only because I cared."

More loud silence filled the room.

"I was planning to tell you as soon as you got back home from that business trip a few weeks ago," Ally spoke. "...but I just couldn't seem to find the right words."

"I just always thought you were the type of girl who knew right from wrong," Lester muttered. "And doing adult things when you're still a teenager is a very _wrong _thing to do, Ally. How could you? And with Austin of all people? I trusted him, only to find out that the two of you have been sneaking around behind my back."

"Dad, it wasn't like that," Ally assured him. "We haven't been sneaking around, it was one time. There was a party, I should've stayed true to myself and resisted drinking...but I wanted to let loose for a night. So I did, and things got out of hand. It's just as much my fault as it is his, so please don't kill him, Daddy. _Please_."

"I'm not going to kill anyone Ally," Lester said, causing Ally to sigh in relief.

"He's surprisingly taking responsibility, Dad," Ally spoke softly after yet another lingering moment of silence. "Austin has been there for me ever since I first told him. He's catered to my constant cravings, dealt with my mood swings, taken me to my doctors appointments. He even got a new job at the local pizza parlor so he could help me pay for medical bills. We may not be together, _together_...but believe it or not Daddy, Austin Moon is a _good _guy. I feel very lucky that it's him of all people."

"Well I'm happy to hear that," Lester smiled ever so slightly, making Ally relax a little. "Because after all, you're still my little girl, and you deserve the best." This made Ally smile. Her father was taking this _a lot_ better than she'd expected.

"But still," Lester spoke. "Do either of you have any idea of what it's like to be a parent? Because let me tell you, it's no walk in the park. It takes hard work, dedication, sacrifice. You have to be there for your kid no matter what - make sure that they're well-cared for, make sure that they're happy. And most importantly, _you _have to give up your childhood. You can't be a teenager anymore."

"I-I know," Ally stuttered. "And that's why I'm thinking I'm going to give the baby away to a good family who will love and care for it. I already know I'm not ready to be a mother."

"Honey, that's a very tough thing to do. Probably tougher than you can understand. While keeping a baby is very hard, I'm sure giving one away is much harder. The bond a mother has with her child is strong, whether you're giving the baby away or not."

"I know, I just want what's best," Ally whispered, trying to fight the doubt in the back of her mind.

"That's good." Lester placed a hand over his daughter's. "Just know that you're still my baby girl, and I'm here for you - no matter what your decision." He smiled brightly, causing Ally to do the same. "We're going to get through this, as a family. It'll be okay." He wrapped his arms around his daughter for a warm hug, which she accepted. She allowed a few silent tears to trickle down her cheeks. Maybe her father was right, maybe things would turn out to be okay.

* * *

**Sorry this update took a little longer than my others, I just hit a little bit of a brick wall midway through the chapter. Those brick walls may happen often, so I wouldn't expect constant updates, although I promise I'll try my best to update as soon as I possibly can.**

**Now with that said, tell me what you think! :)**


	5. Chapter 5

**Hi guys! Sorry this update is kind of late, I just suffered from a major case of writers block. :l But hey, at least I'm here now. ^.^ Like always, thanks to those who reviewed, and thanks for every single view and hit and what not. Especially thanks to those who put a lot of thoughts and predictions into long reviews :) You guys are amazing!**

**Ugh it feels like it's been forever since I've seen a new episode of A&A. I hate how Disney is taking month long breaks out of one of the few shows I actually like on that channel anymore :( I need Auslly moments - even if it's just a hug or a smile or SOMETHING - in the next episode. Those two are just so freaking cute! But anyways...**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Austin and Ally or any of it's characters.**

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* * *

Ally stood at her locker, grabbing a few books, trying to ignore the rather loud whispers and stares coming from around her. She'd reached past her five-month marker, and over the past few weeks her petite little stomach had started to become slightly 3-deminsional. It didn't take a genius to figure out what was happening.

_Slut, whore, skank..._those were her labels now. She was no longer the shy, innocent Ally Dawson that hardly anyone knew.

Ally tried her best to ignore all the gossip going around, but she still couldn't help but have a nervous break down the first time a snide girl confronted her about the issue she was facing. Of course Austin had been there to comfort her, although she wasn't quite sure if people looked at it as just being a good friend, or something _else_.

She leaned into her locker to shield her face from a school of tan beach-blonde populars walking her way. The leader of the group - a tall, thin yet curvy figure of a blonde named Brooke - laughed before leaning her head towards Ally. "Hey Ally, when's the baby due?" she laughed, causing her little army of preppy cheerleaders to do the same. Ally had to bite her lip to keep from retorting back - she'd come to learn that talking back to the popular click didn't help at all, it just earned her extra attention on top of her extra attention. Oh how she _hated _attention.

Some days Trish would be there to have her back, and on those days, Ally felt safe. Let's just say Trish was one of those girls who everyone wanted to avoid getting into arguements with. But sadly, Trish was also the lazy type, prone to skipping school and sleeping during class - leaving Ally weak and defenseless against mean remarks from people. She had no choice but to ignore them.

Of course she had Austin and Dez, but walking side by side with them didn't stop the stares or the whispers. She was afraid people were starting to figure out the full and complete truth - Austin was more than just a helpful 'friend' in this situation. Personally she knew they'd find out eventually, but she was dreading it. No matter how supportive he'd been, she still didn't want him to go down with her.

Ally shut her locker, turning only to accidentally bump into the familiar blonde. She backed away, her cheeks going pink. "Sorry Austin."

"It's cool," Austin smirked, his eyes shifting from her stomach to her eyes. "So I've got some big news!"

"What's that?" Ally asked, tilting her head with interest.

"I just got a text from Trish. She said Shiny Money is coming back to Miami for another big tour, and he wants me to perform with him!"

"The rapper who broke five different bones because of his last performance with you, wants to perform with you...again?" Ally furrowed her eyebrows in confusion.

"Surprisingly, yes," Austin shrugged, grinning. "So I was sort of hoping you'd write me a new song."

"Austin, I don't know," Ally sighed, placing a hand on her stomach. "It's not as easy as it used to be. We've got other things to worry about now. You said you'd stand by me, which means that your career has to come second for now, okay? We still have to pay for doctors visits, and - "

"I know, I know," Austin interrupted. "And the night we perform is on a Saturday - my only day off, thank God. And Trish said the gig will be worth a fair amount of money."

"Oh. Well that definitely changes things," Ally perked up. "I guess I can try to work on a song later today. Meet me in the practice room after work."

"Sounds good." Austin looked down to see that Ally's hands were full. "Let me get those for you," he said politely, grabbing a few books out of her hands.

"Thank you Austin," Ally beamed.

"No problem." They turned to walk to her next class, the crowd of teens parting like the Red Sea as they did so.

* * *

Austin walked into the practice room later that night dressed in his work uniform, which consisted of a dorky-looking red V-neck Tshirt and a pair of black pants. Ally glanced up at him, closing her songbook shut. "Hey," she said, flashing him a grin.

"Hey." Austin took a seat beside her on the piano stool. "How's the song going?"

"Fine. I've got the melody down, I just need some lyrics to go along with it."

"Sweet, maybe I can help."

She played the melody for him, and they spent nearly an hour coming up with different lyrics to match the upbeat rhythm. Eventually they figured out the chorus, and Ally figured it'd be up to Shiny Money to rap out the rest of the song. Their practice was interrupted by the loud sound of Austin's stomach growling.

"Hungry?" Ally laughed.

"Just a little bit," Austin joked, placing a hand on his stomach.

"Maybe we can take a snack break." Austin nodded in agreement, and they found some chips and salsa in the fridge. They both plopped down on the cushy practice room chairs, digging in. Ally swallowed one chip before suddenly leaning back in her seat, squeezing her eyes shut and placing both hands on her swollen stomach. Austin furrowed his eyebrows at her.

"Als, you okay?" he asked inbetween bites.

"Yeah," Ally said, tilting her head back up to meet his eyes. "The baby's just kick, kick, kicking away. The movements are starting to get more frequent nowadays."

"You mean...it doesn't hurt?" Austin asked, confused.

"Nope, the doctor says it's perfectly normal around this time in the pregnancy. It becomes so real that there's a living, moving, breathing human being inside of me. And strangely, it feels kind of nice," she said, munching on another chip.

For a moment, the two fell into silence. Ally squeezed her eyes shut again and Austin simply watched her - contemplating if he should say what's on his mind. "...can I feel it?" he finally asked, looking down a bit awkwardly. Ally looked at him with wide eyes, blushing a little.

"Um...yeah. I guess so. Come here."

Austin scooted his chair closer to hers, reaching his hand out. He met eyes with Ally midway through, silently questioning if this was totally okay. She merely smiled in return, reaching out to take his hand and place it in the middle of her stomach.

It took a moment - but eventually - Austin felt a small kick. "Woah," he said, his eyes bulging. "That's incredible."

"Yeah," Ally laughed, biting her lip. "It really is."

They sat like that for a while - holding each other's gaze while Austin's hand was placed on Ally's round tummy, occasionally feeling a kick every now and then. Ally swallowed hard as she took notice of that _look _of want and need shown in his dark brown irises. She felt the speed of her heart beat increase drastically as Austin started to close his eyes, tilting his head up towards hers. She suddenly felt the need to do the same, and their lips were just about to touch when -

"I called the adoption agency!"

Austin's eyes widened and he backed away, not even realizing what had just almost happened. He swallowed hard, looking at her in terror. "You..._what_?"

"I figured the sooner we get to know this couple, the better, yanno?" Ally gulped, looking at him quizzically.

Austin stared off into space, hating the fact that the awful feeling he got in the pit of his stomach when he saw the baby via sonogram for the first time was there again. He'd just felt that joy again...only to have it taken away by realizing that Ally had her heart set on adoption.

"Als," Austin spoke up. "Listen, I'm not totally sure we should - "

He was interrupted by the sound of Ally's ring tone. "Hold that thought," Ally said, pulling out her phone. "Hello?...yeah dad, I'll be right there. I know...yeah, love you too. Bye." She flipped her phone shut. "Sorry Austin, tell me some other time. My dad says it's eleven o'clock on a Monday, I should be getting home." She got up, gathering a few things.

"Oh and Austin..." Ally stopped in the doorway. "We're sceduled to meet up with the adoptive couple on Thursday."

And before Austin could respond, she was gone.

* * *

"I just...don't know how to tell her, yanno?" Austin muttered to Dez as they walked through the school hallway.

"Well you're going to have to sooner or later," Dez said. "Tonight's the night the adoption becomes serious, isn't it?"

"Yeah...of course nothing's set in stone until the baby's born and we hand the papers over, but we're supposed to meet the couple tonight. I've been dreading it for the past two days. I can't eat, I can't sleep, I can hardly think..."

"Well you're going to have to tell Ally how you feel about the whole thing sooner or later. You'll regret it if you don't."

"I know," Austin muttered. "It's just...what if she doesn't want the baby no matter what I say?"

"You'll never know until you talk to her," Dez replied. "It's better to do it sooner than later, man. Just, tell her how you really feel about the whole thing."

"Yanno what?" Austin smiled. "You're right, Dez. I'm going to tell Ally that keeping this baby might not be so bad after all."

"Do it." They turned the corner to see Ally at her locker, grabbing a few things. Austin suddenly felt all courage disappear.

"Maybe some other time," he whispered. Before Dez could even turn to face him, he was booking it down the hallway.

* * *

Ally walked through the school, hugged her books tightly to her chest. Two girls walked by, both staring at her intently. "That's the one I was talking to you about," Ally heard one of them snigger. She ignored them, turning the corner of the hallway.

She wondered how tonight would go. After all, she was meeting the parents of this child-to-be in her stomach. She knew if she found a single flaw in this couple, she would cancel the whole thing and call the agency to schedule another appointment with a different couple. This kid deserves nothing but the best.

She wondered what Austin was up to. He hadn't said much to her the past view days, and she was thankful he hadn't brought up their 'almost' kiss. Speaking of that...

_Where do we stand now? _Ally couldn't help but wonder. Was almost kissing the beginning of a new relationship that she'd always sort of dreamed they'd have? Or was it always going to be refered as something that _almost _happened?

Ally shifted her eyes from the ground and looked up to see Austin leaning against a locker at the end of the hallway, chatting away with a beautiful brunette. All hope within her vanished at the sight of this. Who was she kidding? This was _Austin Moon _for Heaven's sake. He was good-looking, popular, charming. Baby or no baby, why would he settle for a girl like her?

She ducked her head down, trying to get out of sight as fast as possible.

* * *

"Thanks Jenna," Austin said to the girl in front of him with a smile. "I would've never been able to finish that english assignment without you."

"No problem," Jenna said, batting her long eyelashes at him. Austin averted his eyes away from her, only to notice his song partner ducking her head down in the hallway, as if trying to keep a low profile.

"So listen...I was wondering if you maybe wanted to go out sometime?" Jenna spoke up, smiling flirtatiously at the blonde. However, Austin's mind was somewhere else - his eyes locked on the pregnant brunette walking in the opposite direction as him.

Maybe he should listen to Dez. It was probably best to talk to Ally about how he felt about the whole situation sooner rather than later. Especially with this whole meeting with an adoptive couple going on tonight.

"Austin?" Jenna spoke, waving a hand in front of the aspiring singer's distant face. Austin didn't say a word, just stalked off towards the songwriter.

"...I'll take that as a maybe?" Jenna called after him, confused when she got nothing in response.

* * *

"Hey Ally!" Austin said, walking beside her.

"Hey Austin," Ally spoke, surprised he'd ditched the beauty he'd been talking to just to catch up with her. "You ready for that meeting tonight?"

_"Better sooner than later, man. Just tell her how you really feel." _Dez's words echoed through Austin's head. Austin swallowed hard, stopping in the middle of the hallway. "Listen Als, _about that_..." he cleared his throat. "I don't think I want to go to the meeting tonight."

"Why not?" Ally asked, furrowing her eyebrows in confusion.

"Because..." Austin began, growing a bit nervous. "I...I don't think adoption is the best idea for us."

"What do you mean?" Ally questioned.

"I mean...is this really what you want?"

"Of course," Ally answered, placing a hand on her stomach. "I want what's best for this baby, and realistically, adoption is what's best."

"How can you say that?" Austin muttered under his breath.

"What?" Ally said, confused.

"Didn't you ever stop to think that maybe _we _are what's best for this baby?" Austin said, his jaw clenching, anger slowly building within him. "Didn't you ever think of _that_, Ally?" he shouted, taking Ally aback. Everyone in the hallway stopped, all averting their eyes towards them.

"Lower your voice," Ally whispered harshly. "People are starting to stare."

"I don't care!" Austin yelled. He turned around to face the school of teenagers. "Yeah," he called out. "That's right. This baby in here..." He gestured towards Ally's stomach. "It's mine."

The crowd of teens gasped, all beginning to whisper to one another. Ally clenched her jaw, rolling her eyes in annoyance. "You see? I don't care what they think," Austin spoke, turning to face her. "All I care about is this baby. It's all I care about."

"I know you care about the baby, Austin," Ally said soothingly.

"Well obviously you don't," Austin spat. "You want to give him away."

"You think I _want _to give this baby away, Austin?" Ally spoke, tears sparking at the corners of her eyes. "Because in all honesty, I don't. I wish we could keep this baby and everything could be perfect, but guess what? It won't be. We're in high school, we're not ready to be parents."

Austin looked down at the ground, fighting the lump forming in his throat. "...I'd take care of you," he finally choked out, looking Ally directly in the eyes. "I'd take care of both of you." He leaned forward, placing both hands on her stomach.

"I know you would," Ally sighed, placing her hand on top of his. "...but we're just not in any place to raise a baby. You have dreams to fufill, and so do I. If we were to keep this baby, you'd end up regreting it. You'd resent both of us. It would be best for the baby to go off to a stable couple...and that's why I'm going to this meeting tonight, okay?" Austin replied with nothing but silence for a moment, before looking at her with pure hatred - a look that Ally had never seen in Austin before.

"Well fine," he said, taking a few steps back. "Just don't expect me to be there with you."

"Austin - "

But it was too late. He left her standing alone in the hallway, totally lost for words.

* * *

**Ahhhh, cliffhanger! Haha, well I hope that chapter was worth the wait. Even though the ending probably has you all in shock. **

**And to all 26 of you who have this story as a favorite and all 31 who are following: REVIEWS ARE HIGHLY APPRECIATED. Believe it or not, your thoughts and predictions really do give me ideas. Without them my writers block becomes unbearable. So please, don't hesitate to review. Thanks! :)**


	6. Chapter 6

**Thanks to everyone who reviewed! You guys are awesome :D Your predictions gave me so many ideas, I was able to update a lot quicker than last time.**

**Sooo...here's your new chapter!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Austin and Ally or any of its characters.**

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* * *

Austin sat at the kitchen table with his family, not saying a word. He couldn't even seem to eat his spagetti, just twirled it over and over again, occasionally watching it fall from his fork. His parents - Mike and Mimi Moon - watched him with worry, and his little sister - a cute, eight year old blonde named Ashley - just seemed clueless to his behavior.

"So how was your day, Austin?" Mimi asked, breaking the silence.

"A day," Austin muttered, avoiding eye contact. Mike and Mimi exchanged worried looks before shifting their eyes back to their food.

In a matter of minutes dinner was over for the night, and Ashley ran off to go play with a few barbies in the middle of the living room, Mike stayed at the kitchen table, while Austin helped his mother do the dishes.

"So Austin..." Mimi spoke up, wiping her hands with a towel. "Are you okay? I mean, the past few days you've seemed rather...distant. Is everything okay? Is the baby healthy?"

"Yeah, as far as I know, the baby's healthy," Austin murmured.

Austin's family acted rather calm and caring after finding out about Ally's pregnancy. They decided they'd handle it in a rational way.

On the inside, Mike Moon was furious. He wanted Austin to go to a nice college and get into law business before getting into any 'family' stuff. He was still in denial about the fact that his son wanted to dedicate his life to being a rockstar. He thought it was just a silly dream, and through his eyes Austin would grow up to be a clean-cut business man - much like himself. This pregnancy threw these dreams he had for his son off, but for the sake of his family, he kept calm about the whole thing.

Mimi Moon was very supportive, constantly asking Austin about health updates and smiling at new sonograms. She acted very grandma-like, and deep down, she too was a bit disappointed when her son informed her that Ally was leaning towards adoption.

Ashley started off very excited about the whole thing. She taughted Austin about being a daddy and instantly fell in love with the idea of being an aunt. It broke Austin's heart to tell her that he wasn't going to be a daddy, and she wasn't going to be an aunt, because the baby was going to be given away.

"That's good," Mimi said, leaning against the counter. "It's just...you seem rather quiet lately. Unlike yourself."

"Care to tell us what's on your mind son?" Mike spoke up. "Is Ally okay?"

"I wouldn't know," Austin sighed, drying the last dish and rinsing out the sink. "I haven't spoken to Ally in over a week."

"Why's that?" Mimi furrowed her eyebrows in worry.

"We had a little...disagreement, I guess you could say." Austin took a seat across from his father at the table, resting his chin in the palm of his hand.

"Care to give us any details?" Mike asked.

"Well," Austin began. "I just...I've come to the realization that I don't want to give this baby up for adoption. And when I found out Ally called the adoption agency without telling me, I got a little angry. We had a huge fight in front of nearly half the school."

"Oh goodness," Mimi sighed. "So you're saying you _don't _want to give the baby away, but Ally does?"

"Exactly," Austin muttered, picking at his fingernail.

"Listen son," Mike spoke. "I hate to break it to you, but in the end this is Ally's choice, she is the one carrying that baby around. And if she wants adoption, you have no choice but to go along with it."

"I know, I just wish I had more of a say," Austin admitted, still refusing to make eye contact. "This sucks. It's my kid too, why can't it be my choice as well? And if I could choose, I'd choose to keep the baby in a heartbeat. And deep down, I think Ally wants to too, she's just afraid I'll wind up resenting both her and the baby if I wind up choosing them over my rising career as a rockstar."

Mike couldn't help but roll his eyes at these words. "And I also hate to break this to you son...but that's also never going to happen."

"You also said I'd never be an over-night internet sensation, and that happened," Austin mumbled under his breath. Mimi shook her head, contemplating how to keep this conversation from turning into an arguement.

"Listen honey," she said soothingly. "If you really believe that keeping the baby is what's right, then maybe all you need to do is prove to Ally that you're ready to be a father. Then maybe she'll warm up to the idea of being a mother. If not...I don't know what to tell you."

"I don't know what to do," Austin said. "She won't even speak to me right now."

"Make it up to her, apologize," Mike suggested. "You don't want to be known as the guy who just walked away, do you?"

"No," Austin sighed. "I really don't. I just...don't know how to make it up to her."

"You'll find a way, son," Mike said. "All will be well in the end." Austin sighed in response, silently praying that his father was right.

* * *

Ally sat in the clinic of the doctors office, her father by her side. He was her only ride being that she hadn't spoken to Austin in over a week after their little fall out in the school hallway. She wondered if that was the end of it. Did it mean that Austin was walking away now? Was she on her own? She wasn't sure, but quite frankly, she was scared to death. She didn't only want Austin to hold her hand throughout all of this...she _needed _him to hold out her hand throughout all of this. Life before Austin Moon was boring and dull, the last thing she wanted was for him to disappear. He always seemed to make it easier when life got hard.

It felt as if they haven't spoken in forever. She didn't even go to the concert he performed with Shiny Money. It was the first time she didn't fully participate in a Team Austin gig.

She sat there nervously thinking about this, cupping her stomach with both hands.

"So am I just going to stay in here and wait, or..." Lester spoke up, breaking the long silence.

"Yeah, I'd prefer you wait in here," Ally said. "You can just take a nap, the appointment will be over in no time."

"You nervous?" Lester asked.

"Why would I be nervous?" Ally asked, raising an eyebrow.

"You are finding out if it's a boy or a girl, right?"

"Oh...yeah. It is," Ally said, a bit surprised. She'd completely forgotten with all that's been on her mind with Austin lately.

"So what are you hoping for?" her father questioned, curious.

"Is it really going to matter? I'm giving it up anyways," Ally mumbled, looking away.

"So what's up with the whole Austin ordeal?" Lester asked, changing the subject. "Is he just going to completely stop doing his part or...what?"

"I don't know anymore," Ally muttered. "I haven't spoken to him in over a week, but as far as I know he still has a job at the pizza parlor. So apparently he's still going to help me pay for all of this."

"He probably just needs time. He'll come back, Austin doesn't seem like the type of guy to just walk away from something like this."

"Hopefully," Ally said, her eyes distant.

"Yanno..." Lester spoke up. "I always had a feeling the two of you would end up together, sooner or later."

"_Dad_," Ally whined, nudging him in the arm. "Austin's always just been a friend."

"Whatever you say, Ally-cat," Lester teased, earning an eye roll from his daughter. "And lately I've been thinking...maybe this whole thing happening was just...fate. Everything happens for a reason, yanno."

"I guess I never thought of it that way," Ally said, looking down.

"Everything will be alright in the end Ally-cat, you just watch," Lester said, smiling. Ally smiled in return, and the two fell silent once again until a young nurse walked into the room, calling Ally's name. "Wish me luck" was the last thing she said to her father before getting up to go follow the nurse into the back doctors office.

* * *

"Okay so my shift's finally over." Austin smiled, taking a seat beside Dez and Trish at a booth in the pizza parlor. "Now we can talk."

"Woah, woah, woah..._talk_?" Trish said, cocking an eyebrow at him. "You said if we came here, we'd get free pizza. I don't see any pizza, and I don't recall you saying anything about talking."

"Yeah Austin, I'm running on an empty stomach here!" Dez complained.

"Okay, so I lied," Austin admitted. "You're really here because...I need your help."

"With what?" Trish questioned.

"As you both know it's been quite a while since I talked to Ally last, and - "

"You consider one week a while?" Trish interrupted. "What are you guys married or something?"

"No, but we're having a baby," Austin pointed out. "And that's much more serious if you ask me." Dez and Trish met eyes, both shrugging in argreement.

"After argueing over to keep the baby or not last week, we haven't spoken since. And...I need your guy's advice on how I should make it up to her."

"Knowing Ally, she won't be able to stay mad for long," Trish said. "Just do something simple. Like, give her your next paycheck. Let her know that you're sorry, and you're still here to support her."

"Okay, I guess I can try that. Thanks Trish," Austin said, his lips curving into a bright smile at the Latino.

"No problem," Trish said, uncaring. The two looked over at Dez, who had his forehead smashed against the table, holding his stomach tight.

"Dez, you alright?" Austin asked, furrowing his eyebrows.

"It's been two hours since I last ate!" Dez shouted, sitting up in panic. "_Two hours._ That's like four days without food for me. I'm a growing boy Austin, I need pizza!"

"Fine, fine, calm down," Austin said, standing up and pulling out his wallet. "I'll buy you guys the pizza I promised."

"Thank Heavens," Dez sighed, smiling. "I'll take it with mushroom toping only."

"Mushrooms?" Trish squeeked. "Gross. Ignore him Austin, we'll take pepperoni."

"No, ignore _her_ Austin," Dez spoke, annoyed. "We'll take mushrooms."

"_Pepperoni_," Trish insisted.

"_Mushrooms_," Dez retorted.

"Pepperoni!"

"Mushrooms!"

"Pepperoni!"

"Mushrooms!"

Austin stood there, wallet in hand, watching the two of them go back and forth. "You guys!" he shouted, causing them both to fall silent. "How about we go half mushrooms, half pepperoni?"

"Fine," Trish groaned, rolling her eyes.

"Sounds fair to me," Dez sighed.

"All I have to say is none of his mushrooms better touch a single slice of my pepperoni," Trish growled, glaring at the red head sitting across from her.

"Likewise," Dez said, glaring in return.

"Whatever, but this thing with Ally better work out!" Austin said before going to the front counter to order a large pizza for his starving friends.

* * *

Austin watched from a distance as Ally loaded a few books into her locker, exchanging them for other ones. He sure hoped Trish was right - hopefully this would work. He took a deep breath, slowly walking forward until he came to a stop beside her locker.

"Hey."

"Hey," Ally said flatly, not even bothering to look at him. Austin froze for a moment, unsure of what to do.

"Listen," he sighed. "Even though I still don't agree with the decision you're making, I just want to let you know that I'm sorry for what happened last week, and that I'm still here for you." He handed her the paycheck, which she slowly accepted - scanning her eyes over the small square of paper.

"Thank you," Ally said, although her expression was still motionless. "But over the past few days of being completely seperated from you, I've come to the realization that I don't need your approval for this decision I'm making. It is _my _decision, after all. And I met the adoptive couple the other day, they seem like nice people."

"When are you going to realize that it doesn't matter if these people are nice or not?" Austin snapped. "My opinion still won't change. I still want to keep this baby more than anything, and I wish you could feel the same. It is mine too, yanno? So it should be _my _decision too, right?" Ally crossed her arms, rolling her eyes in annoyance.

"We're never going to see eye to eye on this, are we?"

"Guess not." The two were silent for a moment, avoiding eye contact.

"Whatever," Ally hoffed, slamming her locker shut. "And just in case you were wondering," she said, locking eyes with him. "This 'it' you're refering to, is a girl."

With that, she pushed past him, nudging him hard in the shoulder as she did so. Austin turned around to watch her angrily stomp off down the hallway, her hips swaying back and forth until she disappeared around the corner.

Although that conversation had turned out to be a lot worse than he thought it'd be - and that Trish's plan had failed - he couldn't seem to fight the smile spreading across his features.

He was having a baby _girl._

* * *

**Well, there you go! I hope that scene with Dez and Trish provided some good comical relief from all the baby drama that's been happening :) haha.**

**This has got to be one of my faster updates. Once I get people reviewing, the ideas just seem to flow. :) So remember: reviews are HIGHLY appreciated. Thanks!**


	7. Chapter 7

**Hey everyone, I hope you're glad that I've come up with another quick update! Your reviews are so great, they make me think so much. :) I have to admit this chapter is shorter than most, but I'm positive you'll like what's in store. So...enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Austin and Ally or any of its characters.**

*****Read, Enjoy, Review*****

* * *

Austin emerged from the back room of the pizza parlor, a goofy grin plastered across his face. Dez and Trish glanced worriedly at one another, before looking back at the blonde singer, who was practically radiating happiness as he danced his way to the booth.

"Hey guys!" Austin said excitedly, plopping down beside Dez.

"Hey, Austin..." Dez muttered, giving Trish a confused glare while Austin stared off into space, humming a tune.

"Uh...Austin?" Trish spoke up. Austin shifted his eyes towards her, a huge grin still lighting his features.

"What's up?"

"Are you okay? I mean, you seem happy. Like _really _happy compared to what's been going on lately. Did Ally forgive you? Did my plan work?"

"Actu - "

"I knew it!" Trish squealed. "No need to thank me, I already know I'm a genius."

"_Actually_," Austin began. "Your plan totally back fired and - "

"Ha! I knew it!" Dez blurted, pointing a finger at the Latino. Trish shot him daggers, causing the red head to immediately pipe down. "Uh, I mean...darn. Your plan back fired, I never expected that to happen, oh no..."

"That's what I thought," Trish sneered, turning her attention back to Austin. "Anyways?"

"I handed her the paycheck and let her know that I'm still here for her, but we wound up arguing anyways," Austin explained. "She says she met up with the adoptive couple and that they're really nice, while I told her it doesn't matter, I still want to keep the baby. Then she sort of stomped off and we haven't spoken at all in the past forty-eight hours."

"Wait...I'm confused," Trish said, shaking her head. "If the plan back fired, and Ally's still mad at you...why are you so happy?"

"Ally didn't tell you?" Austin asked, smiling wide. Dez and Trish exchanged confused looks before turning back to the blonde.

"Tell us what?" Trish asked. Austin didn't respond for a moment, just stared at his lap, that goofy grin still shown from ear to ear. He looked up, making eye contact with both of them.

"It's a girl."

"Awh!" Trish squealed, her facial expression suddenly matching Austin's. "How did you find out?"

"Ally told me when she was storming away after our arguement. Left me so speechless and happy, I didn't even realize the bell went off."

"Awh," Dez squeeked in a high-pitched voice.

"I know, cute that we're having a baby girl, right?" Austin gushed.

"No, look at that lady outside the parlor window," Dez said, pointing to an old woman walking a puppy outside. "Her little dog is so adorable!" Austin gave his best friend an odd stare, causing Dez to snap out of his daze. "Oh, right...uh, you and Ally having a baby girl is pretty adorable too."

"I know," Austin beamed. "I just can't believe it...Ally's carrying around a baby girl. _My _baby girl, to be more specific. I just love the sound of that. _My _baby girl."

"So does this mean Ally's deciding to keep the baby now?" Trish asked. Austin looked away, the grin slowly fading off of his face.

"No," he mumbled. "She's still got her heart set on adoption...but I'm not going to give up, not yet. This is _our _baby girl. This could be our _only _baby girl. I'm not about to just let her be given away to complete strangers. She belongs to _us_."

"And how do you plan on changing Ally's mind?" Dez questioned.

"Yeah," Trish said. "I've never seen Ally so stubborn about anything in my entire ten years of being best friends with the girl. She must really, _really _have her mind set on this."

"I'm not sure how exactly I'm going to change her mind," Austin said. "My mom told me that I need to prove to her that I'm ready to be a father, so she can warm up to the idea of being a mother. Somehow I need to prove to her that I'm ready to take on this responsibility."

"Above everything I think we need to get you two back on a friends basis," Dez said. "You're not going to get anywhere constantly fighting all the time."

"Wow, for once I agree with Dez," Trish said, surprised with herself. "You and Ally need to get back to where you were, and we'll go from there."

"And how do we plan on doing that?" Austin asked.

"Simple. Ally's always had a passion for music, so what do you do? You write her a song!" Trish exclaimed.

"Great idea. Only one problem," Austin muttered. "Worst songwriter in the world your speaking to right now, remember?"

"So? Pick an old song and sing it to her on acoustic," Dez suggested.

"That's brilliant!" Austin said, jumping out of his seat. "I'll pick an old song, whip out my acoustic guitar, and sing it to her when she least expects it. It'll be perfect! Thanks guys!" With that, he ran out of the store, leaving Trish and Dez in their own awkward silence.

* * *

Ally sat alone at a table in the middle of the school library, lost in a book. She needed _something _to get her mind off of Austin. She just couldn't seem to stop thinking about him. How much she missed the warmth of his hugs, how much she missed the way his laugh could brighten her entire day, how much she missed how contagious of a smile he had...

_You sound like you're falling for him_, her mind told her. Ally shook away the thought, turning her attention back to her book.

Little did she know, a certain blonde was watching from a distance, a certain Latino and also a certain red head standing next to him. They watched as the school librarian disappeared into the storage room.

"Now's your chance," Trish whispered as Dez got his camera ready. "Go for it." Austin took a deep breath, swinging the guitar strap over his shoulder. He began to play out a familiar tune.

_Hey (Hey), I will always stay  
By your side forever  
'Cause we're better together_

Ally instantly recognized the voice, and she looked up from her chapter book to see her old best friend, guitar in hand, smiling directly at her while he sang. He slowly make his way towards her - catching the attention of every single student in the library, as well as those passing through the hallway.

_Hey (Hey), there's no other way  
We'll make it through whatever (Ooh-ooh)  
'Cause we're better together_

Austin kicked the seat beside Ally backwards, sitting down himself, resting the guitar on his leg as he played away at the strings. Ally closed her book, staring at the singer in shock and awe. Was he really serenading her in front of the whole school?

_(Oh) Like the waves need the sand to crash on  
(Oh) Like the sun needs a world to shine on  
(Oh) You're the bright side of every day  
Me without you just isn't the same (Woah-oh-oh-oh-oh)_

Just watching Austin sing soothingly to her - his warm brown eyes boreing into her own and a kind smile lighting his face - Ally found her own lips slowly curving upwards.

Austin smiled even bigger at this, his own heart melting right on the spot. Oh how he _missed _seeing that famous Ally Dawson smile.

_Hey (Hey), I will always stay  
By your side forever  
'Cause we're better together  
Hey (Hey), there's no other way  
We'll make it through whatever  
We're better together_

_Uh-huh oh oh  
Uh-huh oh oh oh_

Over a hundred eyes in both the school library and passing through the hallway were watching them closely. But he didn't care. The only thing that mattered was the girl in front of him.

"Listen Ally," he spoke. "I'm really sorry for how I've been acting lately. This is your choice, I promised you I'd go along with whatever you wanted. And even if you do end up choosing adoption..." - He felt his throat restricting as he said this - "...I still want to be there. I want to be there when she's born. I want to meet our little girl." Ally smiled at this, tears of joy coming to her eyes.

"Of course you can meet her," she sniffled, trying to fight the tears from spilling out. "She is your daughter too. I'm sorry for some of the things I've said, perhaps I've overlooked your feelings. I should've been more...considerate, I guess you can say. All I know is, I've really missed you."

"I've missed you too," Austin admitted. "But I'm here now, and I'm not going anywhere."

"It's so great to hear that," Ally said, a single tear trailing down her cheek. Austin set his guitar down, standing up.

"Hug it out?"

"Yeah," Ally whispered, jumping up into his arms. At this, the whole crowd of students began to clap and cheer.

As Austin held his favorite girl in the world, he looked up to see Dez video taping from the hallway with Trish by his side, both giving him a thumbs up. Austin merely smiled in return, continuing to squeeze the emotional songwriter in his arms.

"It's great to have you back," she whispered against his shoulder.

"It's great to be back," he whispered in response. And then, he was lost in her.

* * *

**Short, but adorable, am I right? ;)**

**I made this chapter shorter because I wanted to dedicate it solely to Austin winning Ally's friendship back, and nothing else. Guess you'll have to wait and see how Austin plans on changing Ally's mind, and if Ally's mind can even be changed. I don't mean to make her sound OOC in this story, teen pregnancies just tend to change people. Don't worry, she's still the same Ally Dawson that we all know and love. :)**

**And I need to give a special thanks to a reviewer named Makenzie, your idea of Austin having an older sister might come in handy. **

**Now with that all said, please review! **


	8. Chapter 8

**Hi everyone! So yeah, my summer decides to randomly get busy and suddenly the constant updates are over. :l But hey, I'm here now, and I really hope you like this update!**

**And by the way - thanks for all the reviews, you guys are truly my inspiration to keep writing. You're all so sweet. :) Sooo...enjoy your new chapter!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Austin and Ally or any of its characters.**

*****Read, Enjoy, Review*****

* * *

"So now that 'Operation: Get Ally Back' was a success, how do we commence 'Operation: Keep Baby'?" Dez asked, taking a bite into his pizza.

"I'm not sure," Austin said, slouching into the booth and crossing his arms in thought. "I need to find a way to prove to Ally that I'm ready to be a dad."

"Know anyone you need to babysit for?" Trish asked. "That would be the perfect way to show Ally you're ready to be a dad. Just show her you're good with kids."

"Well, my older sister Addison always comes down from New York with her husband and kids for the holidays. Christmas is only two weeks away. I usually end up watching the little monsters at least once the whole week they stay here..."

"Austin, that's perfect!" Trish exclaimed. "Just ask Ally to babysit with you. How old are your sister's kids?"

"The oldest is six, second oldest three, and youngest is one."

"Even more perfect! This is your chance to show her that you're not only good with kids, but also good with babies, being that the youngest is a year old."

"I just hope they can get Ally to realize I'm ready to be a father without scaring her away from being a mother," Austin grumbled. "They're not the easiest group of kids to handle."

"That's even better once you think about it," Trish said. "Just make it look like a piece of cake, even when they're miss behaving."

"I guess I can try," Austin muttered. They sat in silence for a moment.

"Yanno," Dez spoke up. "This sounds like it could actually work."

"Let's sure hope so," Austin said, sipping his drink.

* * *

"And then I was like, whatever Erica, that cloud _obviously_ looks like a penguin!" Ally leaned against the locker, laughing at her own story about something that happened at a cloud watchers club meeting. Austin chuckled in return, ignoring the fact that his best friend's story wasn't funny at all. He was just happy to be in her presense - even if she was a bit of a dork.

"So Ally," he spoke up.

"Hmm?" Ally responded, shaking out of her laughter and looking up at him.

"As you know, Christmas is only a week away, and in a of couple days my sister and her family will be coming down for break."

"So?"

"So...I'm usually forced to babysit a few times during their stay, while they go off to explore Miami with my parents. Since Sonic Bomb is closing for the holidays, do you think it'd be alright if you tagged along, keep me company?" he asked, his lips curving into a wide smile.

"I'd love to, if it's alright," Ally responded, smiling brightly.

"My parents said they're fine with it. They said they're even cool with you staying a few nights...that is, if that's cool with you," Austin said, rubbing the back of his neck awkwardly.

"Um," Ally muttered, a blush spreading over her cheeks. "I'm not sure if my dad would be totally cool with that."

"Come on," Austin laughed, rolling his eyes. "You're already pregnant, what more can happen?"

"I guess you're right," Ally sighed, placing a hand over her stomach. "It wouldn't hurt to ask him."

"Awesome." Austin glanced up at the clock, noticing there was less than a minute of passing period left. "Well I guess I'll catch ya later, Als," he said, beginning to walk backwards in the opposite direction. "Oh, and call me later after you see what your dad says!"

"Kay!" Ally shouted back, before watching him disappear around the corner.

* * *

"So he's actually alright with it?" Austin asked as he layed in bed, his head resting on his hand.

"Surprisingly, he didn't even really ask me about it," Ally chuckled at the other end of the phone, sitting up in her own bed. "So...tell me about these kids, what are they like? I don't recall you ever telling me about your neices and nephews."

"Well, Malerie is six, Logan is three, and baby Simon is one. They can be a bit of a handful, but it's nothing I'm not used to," Austin explained casually.

"So you mean...you're usually around kids?" Ally asked, surprised.

"_Well_," Austin said, a sly grin gracing his features. "Let's just say kids dig me."

"Please," Ally smiled, rolling her eyes playfully.

"They do!"

"Guess we'll have to put that to the test a few days from now. Your parents said I could stay for three days, right?"

"Yep," Austin said, popping the 'p.'

"Okay, I'm just wondering...how in the world is there going to be room in that house with me, your sister, her husband, and her three kids?" Ally questioned, cocking an eyebrow.

"Well, there's only one guest room, which my sister, her husband, and baby Simon will stay in. Malerie and Logan usually wind up having a huge sleepover with Ashley in her room."

"Where in the world am I staying?" Ally exclaimed, her eyes widening.

"My room," Austin said simply, causing Ally's eyes to buldge out even further.

"Austin, I don't think I'm totally comfortable with - "

"Don't worry," Austin interrupted. "I'll take the couch downstairs, you can have my bed."

"Austin, I don't want to kick you out of your own bed."

"Ally, I'm not about to have my pregnant best friend sleep on the lumpy living room couch. You can take my bed, no worries."

"Or I can just stay at my house and - "

"No," Austin said flatly. "It'll be fun, trust me. You can have my bed, I don't mind."

"Fine," Ally smirked. "But only because I have a feeling this conversation will never end if I protest."

"Yeah," Austin laughed. "See ya in a few days, Ally."

"See ya," Ally said, hanging up the phone. Austin hung up as well, folding both hands behind his head and smiling up at the ceiling.

'Operation: Keep Baby' was officially in commission.

* * *

**So short for a much longer wait than last time, I know. I'm sorry, I just wanted to fully dedicate this chapter to unraveling Austin's plan on getting Ally to change her mind. Guess you'll have to keep reading to see what goes down for the holidays at the Moon's house! All I have to say is a lot is in store for these next few chapters. **

**Now with that said, please please please review! :) Feel free to spill out your thoughts and predictions!**


	9. Chapter 9

**Yay, we've got another chapter! c: I don't know if I'm too confident about this update, but I worked really hard on it, so hopefully you guys will like it. **

**Disclaimer: I do not own Austin and Ally or any of its characters.**

*****Read, Enjoy, Review*****

* * *

Ally stood at the Moons' doorstep, bag in hand, another sitting on the concrete beside her. She was a bit nervous, being that she'd only met Austin's family once before. They seemed like nice people, although she didn't know much about their oppinion on her, or what had been going on between her and their son. She was unsure if they truly liked her or not, and the last thing she wanted to do was make a bad impression.

Ally wrapped her hand around the door, softly knocking. She heard a few muffled voices coming from inside, and in a matter of seconds, Austin was at the door, smiling down at her. "Hi Ally!" he exclaimed, his eyes roaming from her eyes down to both of her bags. "Wow...are you staying for three days, or three months?"

"Shut up," Ally smiled, rolling her eyes playfully.

"Come in," Austin laughed, grabbing both bags and shutting the door behind her. "Ash," Austin called out to his younger sister, catching her attention. "Can you say hi to Ally?"

"Hi," the girl said shyly, before turning her attention back to the cartoon she'd been watching. Austin rolled his eyes in response, waving Ally over to follow him to the kitchen. Both of his parents were sitting at the kitchen table, their faces lighting up at the sight of Austin and Ally in the doorway.

"Hi Ally!" Mimi greeted, standing up to give the young girl a warm hug. "How are you?"

"I'm...fine," Ally muttered, a bit taken aback by the hug. "Um...it's good to see you guys again."

"Oh, it's good to see _you_," Mike said. "Austin's always telling us so much about you."

"_Dad_," Austin groaned from his spot on the kitchen counter. Ally took notice of a blush spreading across his cheeks.

"Austin honey, get down please," Mimi scolded. Austin rolled his eyes, hopping off of the counter.

"Come on, Als, I'll show you where you'll be staying for the next few days." He grabbed her by the wrist, and she flashed his parents one more small smile before turning around to follow him up the stairs. They found his room right down the hall, and Austin immediately plopped onto his bed - his back leaning against the wall - while Ally stood rather awkwardly in the doorway.

She took a good look around, thinking about all the memories that the very room held. From the time she barged in demanding why he'd stolen her song, to the time she'd investigated the whole 'mall thief' incident, to that one _special_ time that caused her whole life to turn upside-down. All of these flashbacks started racing through her head all at once.

"Ally? You don't have to be shy, yanno. Take a seat," Austin spoke up, snapping her back to reality. Ally walked across the room to plop down beside him, stretching her legs out and lacing both hands over the top of her stomach.

"You didn't have to bring me up here, you know," Ally said, looking her best friend directly in the eyes. "It's not like I've never been here before." She looked away, and they both felt blushes creeping up on their cheeks.

"I know," Austin said, swallowing nervously. "I just wanted to get away from my parents."

"How come?" Ally asked, tilting her head curiously.

"I just wanted to get you out of there before they start attacking you with constant questions about the baby. They do it to me on a daily basis."

"Oh...well thanks," she muttered, smiling ever so slightly. "So when are your sister and her family coming over? Aren't we supposed to babysit tonight?"

"They should be here any minute now. I'm pretty sure we're supposed to be watching them tonight and tomorrow, then possibly the night afterwards we can do something fun, just the two of us."

"That'd be nice," Ally grinned, looking down at her stomach. "So your sister...she knows about this, right? She won't be taken by surprise?"

"Oh, she knows," Austin said. "She video chats with my mom all the time. She was a little shocked when she first found out, but she wasn't angry. She can actually kind of relate. I mean, Malerie was born when she was only nineteen."

"That's better than sixteen," Ally mumbled. "I guess you can say I'm a little nervous. I grew up an only child, Austin. I've never really had to watch any kids. What if they don't like me?"

"Please," Austin smiled, rolling his eyes. "If anyone should be good with kids, it's you Als. You're kind, caring, responsible. One day, you're going to make a great mother." He silently prayed that day would come a lot sooner than she expected.

"Thanks Austin," Ally said, smiling back. She reached over, giving him a rather unexpected hug.

Austin immediately felt his whole body tense up, although Ally didn't seem to notice. She pulled back - and before she even thought about what she was doing - she gave him a soft peck on the cheek. Austin felt as if his heart was about to leap out of his chest at this action, and he could feel his whole face turn fiery red.

What was happening? Why was his best friend making his heart race over a silly two-second long peck on the cheek? This was just Ally. Why was he suddenly so nervous?

He looked down at those small, plump, soft-looking red lips...they looked rather lonely.

Ally stared at her best friend with worry, taking notice that that _look _of want and need had returned to his brown irises as he sat there, staring at her bottom lip. She could feel the tension slowly builing - she swore she even saw him lick his own lips.

They were both snapped out of their daze by the sound of someone knocking on the door downstairs.

"That must be them!" Austin said excitedly, bouncing out of bed and jogging out of the room. Ally shook her head, disregarding whatever had just happened between them, and got up to follow him. She froze at the top of the stairs, one hand resting on the banister, another on her stomach.

She watched the family closely as they all exchanged welcoming hugs and smiles. A woman with short blonde hair who looked as if she were in her mid-twenties smiled to Mimi as they spoke, a baby sleeping over her shoulder while a little boy was attached to her leg. A handsome man with light brunette hair was there as well, shaking Mike's hand while showing off a perfect smile. A little girl with the same light brunette hair immediately started to accosiate with Ashley, and in a matter of seconds they were both racing to the doll house in the middle of the living room.

Austin slid down the banister, shouting a big_ "Hey!"_ to everyone once his feet met the floor. The little girl dropped her barbies, and the little boy let go of his mother's leg - both rushing over to greet the tall blonde.

The woman with the baby smiled at Austin, swinging one arm around his shoulder as she gripped him for a tight hug. Austin pulled away, patting the sleeping baby's back and turning to shake the young man's hand, before turning to the two children.

"Uncle Austin!" Ally heard both of them screech.

"Hey kiddos!" Austin said joyfully, swinging around to pick both of them up. Ally merely smiled at the nice scene. He turned to see her watching from the top of the staircase. "Come down here, Als!" he shouted, setting the kids down. Ally swallowed her nerves, slowly making her way down the steps to greet the family.

"This is my sister Addison, and her husband, Chad," Austin introduced, gesturing towards the blonde woman with the sleeping baby and the handsome brown-haired man. "Addison, Chad - this is Ally."

"It's very nice to meet you," Addison smiled kindly, hugging Ally with her free arm.

"You too," Ally said, turning to shake Chad's hand.

"We've heard a lot about you," Chad smiled, sticking both hands in his pockets.

"Likewise," Ally said, looking down at the two small children, who were both staring up at her in awe.

"Ally, this is Logan," Austin said, gesturing towards the blonde, green-eyed boy. "And this is Malerie," he finished, moving his finger over to the little girl with wavy brunette hair and mesmorizing brown eyes.

"You're pretty," Malerie said, smiling up at her.

"Why thank you," Ally said, smiling down at the little girl. Her eyes were fixated on Ally's swollen stomach, staring at it in awe.

"Is there a baby in there?"

"Yep," Ally laughed. "There is a baby in there."

"Are you Uncle Austin's girlfriend?" the little boy spoke up.

"Uh..." was all Ally could manage to get out, her throat suddenly going dry. Austin's eyes widened in surprise.

"No Logan, she's not my girlfriend," he swallowed nervously, shooting the little boy a weak smile. "We'll be your babysitters for tonight."

"Yay!" the two kids shouted, throwing their arms in the air, beginning to shout random things all at once. Austin sighed.

This was going to be a long night.

* * *

"You guys have a good night!" Austin shouted from the doorway, waving to his parents, sister, and brother-in-law as they drove away. He turned around, closing the door behind him.

Ally sat on the living room couch, smiling at Malerie and Ashley as they played with various barbie dolls, while Logan sat Indian-style in front of the television - captivated by a rerun of Power Rangers. Austin plopped down beside her.

"See Ally, babysitting isn't so bad," he said, looking at the children.

"Austin, your parents haven't even been gone for two minutes," Ally pointed out, rolling her eyes with a smile still lighting her features. "Plus Simon's still napping."

"Eh, kids are a peice of cake," Austin yawned, shrugging. "You just have to keep them occupied and they'll be fine."

"Whatever you say," Ally sighed, turning her attention back to the girls' doll date.

"I say we name this one Austin," Malerie said, picking up a male doll. "And this one Ally," she added, picking up a female doll. Austin and Ally exchanged smiles, finding it cute the dolls were being named after the two of them.

"Yeah!" Ashley exclaimed, taking the male doll out of Malerie's hand. "And they can get married!" Austin and Ally suddenly felt the smiles disappear off both of their faces, their eyes buldging out at the sound of this.

"Alright, play time's over!" Austin said, hopping off of the couch and taking away the two barbies before reaching over to turn off the TV.

"Hey!" Malerie and Ashley shouted in unison, while Logan began to cry.

"Shhh, it's okay buddy," Austin cooed, picking the crying boy off of the floor. "How about we have some mac n' cheese, your favorite."

"Mac n' cheese!" Ashley and Malerie shouted in excitment, completely forgetting about the barbies and bolting for the kitchen. Logan's crying died down into quiet hiccups, and Austin gave him a peck on the cheek. He began to tickle his belly a little, causing the boy to laugh. Austin noticed that Ally was smiling at this, causing him to smile himself. _Maybe hi__s plan was actually starting to work. _

Ally followed as Austin began to play airplane with Logan, holding him high in the air all the way to the kitchen, making a loud _whoosh_-ing sound as he set him in the chair.

Ally took a seat beside Malerie at the kitchen table while Austin cooked some mac n' cheese, pouring everyone a full bowl before plopping into the empty chair next to Ally. Within a few minutes everyone was done eating, and the kids were all booking it to the living room to get back to their toys. "Help me do dishes?" Austin asked, smirking at Ally.

"I'd love to," Ally responded, getting up to follow him to the sink. They worked as a team - _as they usually do_ - and he washed as she dryed.

"So..." Ally spoke up, wiping her hands with the towel and turning around to lean against the counter. Her eyes trailed down the hallway to meet the faces of the three kids playing on the living room floor. "This really isn't that bad."

"Yeah," Austin smirked, rinsing out the sink. "I told you kids aren't that hard to handle. It's a piece of cake, once you think about it."

"_You _make it look like a piece of cake," Ally grinned. "I see the way those kids look at you, they sure do love their uncle."

"What can I say," Austin shrugged, grinning. "I'm awesome."

"Whatever," Ally laughed, whipping the towel at him.

"Hey!" Austin shouted. He swiped the towel out of her hands, and rolled it to whip it at her, but froze midway through. "...I would whip it at you, if you weren't so preggers."

Ally rolled her eyes. "Whatever, let's get back to the kids." They walked to the living room, both resuming to their seats on the couch.

"Uncle Austin!" Logan hollard, standing in front of the two.

"What's up buddy?" Austin asked, leaning forward.

"I have to pee," he mumbled.

"Uh...okay," Austin murmured, raising an eyebrow before leaning back on the couch.

"I _said_," Logan raised his voice a bit louder this time. "I have to _pee_!"

"Okay buddy, go pee," Austin said, becoming a bit irritated.

"Come with me," the little boy begged, holding his hand out to the blonde.

"Fine." Austin rolled his eyes, turning back to Ally. "I'll be right back." He grabbed the boy's hand and they disappeared down the hall towards the bathroom.

Ally sat on the couch patiently waiting for his return, casually watching a little TV, until she heard a loud screaming cry echo from upstairs.

"Uh-oh, Simon's awake," she heard Malerie whisper. Ally looked around desperately for Austin, and when he still wasn't back with Logan, she got up off of the couch, walking up the stairs. She made her way to the guest bedroom where little Simon layed, crying his eyes out on his back, a small blanket wrapped over his tiny form. Ally stood there for a moment, unsure of what to do.

What was she supposed to do? Hold him? Yeah, that was probably the best idea.

She modestly walked over, picking the crying baby up and wrapping her arms around him. "Shhh," she whispered, bouncing him up and down. It took a few moments, but eventually, Simon's crying died down, and he looked up in wonder at Ally.

"Hi there," Ally cooed, sitting down on the bed as the baby continued to stare at her in awe.

"Ally?" Austin called, running up the stairs. "I heard some crying. Is Simon - " he paused in the doorway at the sight of Ally sitting on the guest bed, making funny faces at the smiling baby. "Oh...I see you have this handled." He smiled, walking over to sit down beside the two.

"See," Austin said, looking down at the smiling kid. "I told you they'd like you." Ally smiled, blushing a bit. "It's kind of getting late. What do you say we put the kids to bed and take Simon downstairs, put a movie in?"

"Sounds good to me." The two got up, and Ally walked extra carefully downstairs with little Simon in her arms.

"Alright, kids, time for bed!" Austin announced.

"Awh, do we have to?" Ashley whinned, dropping her barbies.

"Yes," Austin said flatly.

"_Fine,_" Ashley groaned, angrily folding her arms over her chest and walking upstairs, Malerie following closely behind her. Ally took a seat on the couch, bouncing baby Simon in her lap. Austin noticed that Logan was already knocked out on the floor in front of the television, and he carefully picked him up to take him upstairs. He returned a few moments later, popped in a funny movie, and took a seat beside Ally and Simon.

By the end of the movie, the three had all fallen fast asleep.

Austin was the first to wake up, looking down to see Simon drooling on his shirt. He felt his heart nearly jump out of his shirt once he realized his songwriter's head was resting soundly on his shoulder.

He held baby Simon with one arm, carefully removing himself away from Ally and tucking the sleeping child in upstairs, returning a few moments later.

She looked so peaceful sleeping there on the lumpy couch, not moving a muscle. The last thing he wanted to do was wake her. _But_, even though he had some muscle on him, the guy wasn't the strongest, and there was no way in hell he'd be able to carry a six month pregnant woman all the way upstairs to his bedroom.

"Ally," he whispered, shaking her a little. "Ally, wake up." Ally blinked her eyes open, looking up to meet the eyes of her song partner.

"Austin?" she mumbled. "Where are the kids?"

"They're sleeping upstairs," he said. "Like you should be."

"Alright," she muttered, sitting up. She yawned, and Austin grabbed one of her arms, guiding her half-asleep figure upstairs to his bedroom. She immediately blacked out on his bed, and he had to tuck her in himself. He still couldn't get over how incredibly peaceful she looked...how _beautiful _she looked.

Wait - _what?_

Austin shook the thought away, before walking out of the room, shutting the lights off behind him. "Goodnight, Ally," he whispered. And with that, he shut the door, leaving the sleeping girl all to herself.

* * *

**Woe, that was a lot of writing. Like forreal, my hands are cramping. Haha, well there's Day 1 of babysitting at the Moons' house! Keep reading to see what Day 2 has in store. :)**

**And by the way, I'd really appreciate it if you reviewed before favoriting/following the story, because remember: REVIEWS ARE HIGHLY HIGHLY HIGHLY APPRECIATED! Thanks!**


	10. Chapter 10

**I'm baaack! :D Sorry this update is late compared to my last few, updating quickly just tends to get rough when you're suffering from a combination of massive writer's block and lack of motivation. :l But, I promised myself this would be the first story I ever go through with finishing, and I really do enjoy writing it. :3 **

**I want to give a big thanks to those who reviewed. Like always, you guys are beyond incredible! Here's your new chapter!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Austin and Ally or any of it's characters.**

*****Read, Enjoy, Review*****

* * *

Ally yawned early the next morning, scretching big. A weird sense of deja vu dawned on her once she realized she was in Austin's bed, and she had to double check to make sure she was wearing clothes. She sighed in relief at the fabric of her pink pajama Tshirt covering her pregnant belly. She got up, slipping on a plain purple tee along with a pair of white shorts before making her way down the steps leading to the living room.

She wasn't very surprised to see that Austin was still knocked out on the couch, and she quietly tip-toed past his snoring figure to make her way to the kitchen. All the kids were sitting patiently at the kitchen table along with Mike, Chad, and Addison - who was feeding little Simon in her lap. Mimi turned away from what she was cooking on the stove, her face lighting up at the sight of Ally.

"Hello, sweetie," she spoke, smiling from ear to ear. "Sleep well last night?"

"Actually, yes," Ally chuckled.

"That's good to hear," Mimi said brightly. "Take a seat, dear. We're having pancakes for breakfast." Ally sat down modestly to Ashley, and within a matter of moments, Mimi had a full stack of pancakes, a stick of butter, and a bottle of syrup layed out in front of everyone.

Ally smiled, taking in the smell of fresh, homemade pancakes. It reminded her of mornings when she was a little girl, always waking up to find her mother at the kitchen stove. That woman used to cook like she had absolutely nothing else to do in the world. It'd been a while since she had pancakes - or any non-cereal breakfast for that matter. Her father had never been much of a cook.

Ally sat like that for a while, eating breakfast with the family. She didn't take her eyes off of her food until she heard a loud yawn coming from the other side of the room, and she shifted her gaze to see a shirtless, half-asleep Austin Moon scretching in the doorway. His blonde hair was a complete mess on the top of his head, and a pair of checkered blue pajama pants sagged comfortably at his waiste. Ally couldn't help but stare a bit at his nice figure, her face suddenly going pink. She quickly looked away and took two large gulps of her milk, hoping no one had noticed.

"Well look who's finally awake," Mike joked at the blonde.

"I smelled pancakes," Austin muttered sleepily, taking the empty seat beside Ally. He stacked about four pancakes on his plate, and smeered some butter over them before completely drowning them in an extremely unhealthy amount of syrup.

"So," Mimi spoke up after a few short moments of silence. "How was babysitting last night?"

"It was good," Austin mumbled.

"I hope the kids were on their best behavior," Addison said, stroking baby Simon's light brown hair.

"Oh, they were," Ally said with a smile. "You really do have some good kids."

"That's good to hear," she said, smiling as she kissed the top of the baby's head. Ally smiled slightly at the motherly gesture, before cutting into her pancake once again.

"So we are babysitting again tonight, right?" Austin questioned, stuffing some of his pancake into his mouth.

"Yep," Chad answered, raising his cup of coffee up to his mouth. "You two take care of them for one more night, then they're all ours."

"Nice," Austin murmured, his lips curving into a small smile. _Just one more night to prove to Ally just how ready they truly can be._

* * *

"And then, they all lived happy ever after. The end."

Austin closed the hardback book and tossed it aside, looking at the kids around him. Ally smiled from the doorway, taking in the scene of Austin sitting on Ashley's bed with Logan sleeping soundly in his lap, Ashley and Malerie snoozing away on each of his shoulders. He carefully removed himself from the three children, tucking them all in tightly. He tip-toed towards Ally, shutting off the lights and closing the door behind him.

"So," he said, smiling down at his song partner. "Now that that's all taken care of, how about we get into our PJ's, pop in a good movie? I'm pretty sure Zailen's Five is on On Demand now."

"_Austin_," Ally sighed, rolling her eyes. "You know how I feel about horror movies."

"I know." Austin grinned as they walked side by side down the hallway. "I was just kidding. What kind of a movie do you think we should watch?"

"I'm a sucker for romance," Ally gushed.

"Gross," Austin muttered, scrunching his features together in disgust. "If we're not going to watch a horror movie, we should at least settle for a good comedy."

"How about a romantic comedy?" Ally suggested.

"Sounds fair enough," Austin shrugged. The two entered Austin's room, and he grabbed a pair of navy blue pajama pants along with a grey Tshirt, before leaving to go change in the bathroom. Ally changed into a white tank and a pair of bright pink pajama pants, and as she was throwing her hair up into a messy bun, she heard a loud cry coming from down the hallway.

_Simon._

She left the room, power-walking her way down the hall and into the guest room. She picked Simon up out of his traveling crib and rocked him in her lap for a bit - but unlike the previous night - his crying didn't stop.

"Austin?" Ally called desperately after a few minutes passed and little Simon was still bawling in her lap. "Help!"

"Sorry," Austin said as he jogged into the room. "I wanted to get a little shower in." He sat down on the bed by the two, watching as Ally desperately rocked the crying baby in her lap.

"I don't know what's wrong with him," Ally spoke exhaustedly. "Yesterday, all it took was a little rocking and he was completely fine. Now he won't stop crying." She paused, her nose scrunching in disgust. "And he smells _really _bad."

"Here," Austin said, taking the baby and setting him on the bed. "He probably just needs his diaper changed. Grab me that bag over there, would you?" Ally did so, strolling over to the corner of the room to grab a blue duffle bag and handing it to Austin. Austin unzipped it, grabbing out a fresh new diaper.

"You mean...you actually know how to change a diaper?" Ally asked, confused.

"You mean...you don't?" Austin chuckled, removing the dirty diaper out from underneath the baby and replacing it with the new one.

"Like I said, I don't have much experience with kids," Ally muttered, watching as Austin strapped the new diaper onto Simon.

"It's easy," Austin said after a moment, picking up the now calm child up into his arms. "See? All better." Ally smiled, taking the baby out of Austin's arms.

The three made their way downstairs and Ally plopped down on the living room couch, making funny faces at little Simon as she waited for Austin to come back with the popcorn. He did eventually, and he popped in one of his mother's romantic comedies before sitting down beside Ally.

Ally passed Simon into Austin's lap, and Austin began making funny faces to him as well, tickling the giggling baby's tummy. They turned their attention to the romantic comedy, both laughing along to the funny scenes while Austin pretended to gag through the romantic ones. They occasionally dipped their hands into the bowl of popcorn sitting between them, and at one point, their timing perfectly matched one another's. Their hands brushed softly against each other's in the popcorn bowl - just like you'd see in one of these cheesy romantic comedies.

Austin felt his cheeks go pink, but at the same time, he found that he didn't want to let go. So there they sat, their pinkies intertwined in the bowl of popcorn. Once Ally realized what was happening, she reluctantly pulled away, pretending to cough and fix her hair before lacing her hands over her swollen tummy. Austin pulled away just as awkwardly, wrapping his arms around Simon, who was now sound asleep in his lap.

He smiled down at the sleeping child, closing his eyes and leaning down to kiss him gently on the forehead. Ally smiled, staring directly at her best friend's face as he gazed at the sleepy child.

"What?" Austin laughed, turning his head to see his song partner staring at him knowingly.

"Oh, nothing," Ally responded, grinning from ear to ear. "I'm just a little...surprised, is all."

"How so?" Austin asked, raising an eyebrow.

"It's just...who knew Austin Moon - the guy who I could barely trust to watch my pet bird - would actually be good with kids?"

"What can I say? Kids love me," Austin shrugged, a cocky grin gracing his lips.

"They sure do," Ally whispered, looking down at her stomach. Her daughter happened to be kicking away at the moment, and for the first time throughout her entire pregnancy, the feeling brought her nothing but sadness. No, sadness wasn't the right word. Disappointment, perhaps?

Austin took notice of this, and his eyebrows furrowed in worry.

"Everything okay, Als?"

"Oh," Ally said, shaking her head. "Yeah, everything's fine."

"Alright," Austin murmured. "Well I'm going to go put him to bed, I'll be back in a few." With that, he got up, disappearing up the stairs while craddling little Simon in his arms. Ally watched the romantic comedy closely, although her mind was far from the movie. She tilted her head back, suddenly beginning to drown in her own thoughts.

Ally was a smart girl, and by now she was totally aware of what Austin was doing. Why he wanted her to be here in the first place, why he was dangling around these kids in front of her, why he was showing her all of the skills necessary to become a parent. It was all apart of his plan to get her to change her perspective of this entire situation. To show her that maybe, just maybe, they were ready to take on the responsibility of being parents, despite all the obsticales that were bound to come up. That maybe, they can face their fears of these obsticles together, and just decide to co-parent. That maybe, this baby was a lot more of a gift, rather than a curse.

And her biggest fear of all...was that it might actually be working.

* * *

**Well, there it is! I really hope you enjoyed this chapter, and I'm feeling a lot more motivated now than I did the last time I updated! You'll just have to keep reading to see what goes down during Day 3 of Ally's stay at the Moons' house - the day where Austin and Ally are said to have some alone time to figure things out. This just leaves one question: will Ally change her mind and keep the baby, or is she going to go through with the adoption?**

**Please don't hesitate to review! I'd love to hear every single thought/prediction/comment you have about this story! :)**


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